A Killing Business
by Agent-M-0167
Summary: After a two year hiatus, I return to my Joe Universe. An Army Reservist guides a team of Joes into the Lion's Den. What happens when they find out the reservist is a perfect candidate for G.I.Joe? As always, reviews are welcome.
1. Another Day, Another Dollar

**A Killing Business**

It's been a while since I did a story. My time has been spent working, taking care of my son and regular household duties. I frequent the G.I. Joe page and tend to read the works_._ There have been several stories that are wonderful and I for one have found a lack of inspiration. This is my way of saying "Thank You" for waking me up. Don't quit what you enjoy doing!

**Legal B.S.: **I don't own G.I. Joe or any of the established characters. They belong to their prospective companies (Marvel, Hasbro, Devil's Due, etc.). The only characters that I own are Cassidy M. Riley/Sidewinder and newcomer Alexander Matthews/Forge.

**Characters: **With the new character Alex Matthews; I'm including Jinx, Shockwave, Firewall and Sidewinder for the Joe team. Expect dozens of cannon fodder, I mean Cobra agents. I'm introducing a new member of the Cobra ranks: Diamondback.

**Chapter One**: Another Day, Another Dollar

Alex Matthews stretched in his stiff desk chair. He rubbed his shoulder as he looked at the clock on his cubicle wall. He let out a grunt of pure despair. The laughter from the cubicle one row over let him know that his partner this night, Dave, was enjoying the quiet night. Alex just rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to his monitor. He grabbed the mouse and clicked on a couple of screens; watching countless numbers scroll across his computer screen. He rubbed his temples and stared at the screen for what seemed like forever (more than likely, about thirty seconds), when he heard the squeak from Dave's chair. Alex stopped slouching in his chair and made a pathetic effort to pay attention to what he was doing.

"Dude, I'm going to Cosmo's down the street. Do you want anything?" Dave smiled. Dave was as round as he was tall. He reminded Alex of a mobile snowman.

Alex reached for his wallet. He took out a ten spot and handed it to Dave. "Just go ahead and get me the chicken with rice and a lot of veggies. They know when you walk in that you get your usual and you're picking up my usual. Tell Margie that I said hi." Alex turned his attention back to the monitor.

Dave laughed. "I'll be back in half an hour dude. Think you can hold the fort down?" Alex replied with a one finger salute; causing Dave to laugh again as he walked out the door.

Alex didn't like working customer service. Sitting in a desk, watching a monitor for odd banking transactions wasn't his forte. He liked dealing with customers less. It was usual for someone to lose a bank card and they would have to call someone. Alex was that someone. He didn't like it, but he didn't complain about it. It paid the bills; just like any other job. Unfortunately, his real job didn't pay the bills. He was an Army Reservist in the town of Port Haven, Indiana. The decision to join the military was an easy choice for him; it was either that or get a job in the mills in neighboring Gary, Indiana. He actually wanted to go into the Army at the end of his senior year, but his mother fell ill to cancer earlier that year. After all of the treatments and chemo, she died when he was twenty. He wanted to go then, but his father died in an accident in the mill a year later. Someone had to take care of his little sister Julie; the duty fell onto him. He decided to go Reservist and get a job in town after basic. The two of them found a place in town and he went to work full time. Julie still had a year before she graduated high school; Alex planned to go off to full time Army when she graduated.

Sadly, Julie died the night of her senior prom. That was six months ago. As the holidays were coming, Alex decided that after the New Year would be the opportunity. He looked at this as a new way to start over. He could leave all of the painful memories behind and go into what he really wanted.

The sound of a telephone over the loudspeaker shook Alex from his thoughts. He sighed and clicked on the headset receiver; putting on the fake smile and happy face.

"Thank you for calling Computer Processing Associates; my name is Alex. How can I help you this evening?"

The voice from the other end of the phone was obviously drunk. He could smell the booze coming from the caller; almost.

"Hi. I…I can't find my bank card. I think I flushed it down the toilet after I threw up."

Alex shook his head as he opened a file on his computer. He tried hard not to laugh.

"Okay miss, if you could tell me the name of the bank the card is through, I'll do what I can for you."

Alex heard giggling in the background. "Shut up Bonnie, I'm on the phone with the bank. Wait, is that a slippery nipple? I want one." Alex cleared his throat. "Yes the bank is Broca Bank and Trust in New York."

Alex clicked on another file and opened it. Broca Bank and Trust, while in New York, was CPA's biggest client. He knew that no matter what any of Broca's cardholders called in and said or did; they were always right. Their file was also the weirdest; most of the other banks had customers' social security numbers, date-of-births and account numbers. Broca Bank and Trust customers had full names, a seven digit code and address verification.

"Okay, your name and seven digit code please miss."

"Ugh. That was disgusting. Get me two more. Okay, Kate Martin is my name. My code is TV-00092. Ooh. Get another round of the cinnymom ones. I like those!"

Alex rolled his eyes and continued onward. He got the rest of Kate's information and listened to her go on about different shots with her friend Bonnie. He told her to contact the bank in the morning to get a new card and have a nice night. He clicked off the headset and deactivated the card. He updated the file and sat there. He couldn't figure it out, but something didn't add up with this bank. He knew that the main office was out of New York City, he also knew that they had offices in Mobile, New Orleans, Chicago, Broca Beach, New York, Millville, New Jersey and Springfield, Indiana. He sat there staring at the file, not sure why he didn't close it. He jumped on the internet and researched the bank.

Broca Bank and Trust came up with a legitimate page. He clicked on the history and read how the bank came to be. He looked up the Board of Directors after that. He looked at each picture with a little bio next to them.

"Hm, the CEO is kinda pretty, ditch the glasses and we'll talk." He looked down the list. "Twins? Really? Nice scar on that one buddy. They look like a couple of fags." He continued on down the list. "An eye patch? Nice moustache Cyclops." He looked at the last two bios. "Black man with dreadlocks. I never figured that for a bank. Wow, the brunette's a hell of a lot cuter than the CEO." Alex shook his head. The brunette made him stop. The door opened up to the office.

"Sorry dude. I would have been back sooner but I had to let the night cleaning crew in. Did I miss anything?" Dave brought his food to him. "Is that Tracy Ellis? Our company president?"

Alex nodded. "Yeah, thanks for the grub." He opened the container and poked at the rice and veggies. "Did you know that she's on the Board of Directors for Broca Bank and Trust?"

"Our flagship bank?" Alex nodded to Dave. "Wow, never knew that at all. I was always trying to figure out why our biggest customer was out of New York."

Alex nodded. He scooped up some of the rice and chicken; taking a good forkful and inhaling it. He thought it was weird too. He shrugged to himself and continued to eat his dinner. When Alex started with the company three years ago, he had an account opened at the nearest Broca Bank and Trust. Apparently the company paid to open any account for those that worked for them. He got checks and a bank card, but didn't use the card. They always made him paranoid. He usually got the money out of his account during bank hours. Since he worked evenings, getting to the bank during business hours was never a problem. He continued on with his dinner. Boredom sunk back in and he looked at the bank site more and more. He noticed the name of Extensive Enterprises pop up here and there. Where did he hear that name before? Dave squeaking in his chair woke him from his thoughts.

"Dude! Someone robbed another Broca Bank!"

Alex made a face at this. "Dude, that's the what third one this week?"

"Fourth." Dave replied. "This one burned to the ground!"

Alex shook his head. "World's going to hell in a handbasket." He picked at some of the veggies. He figured he'd ask Dave about Extensive Enterprises. "Dude, you ever hear of Extensive Enterprises?"

Dave raised his head over his cubicle wall. "Yeah, that's our parent company. It's in that book the company put out last year. I think there's one in the break area."

"Okay, thought it sounded familiar." Alex stretched. "Thanks for getting the food. I'm going to step out and have a smoke. You need anything?"

Dave held up a couple of singles. "Get me another Venom Cola from the vending machine. I just finished the one I brought in."

"Yes sir." Alex took the money and walked out of the room. He turned left and walked out into the hallway that led to the back door and the back dock. He walked outside and found the pack in his right cargo pocket. He pulled the Zippo lighter out of his hip pocket and lit up. Something he heard before wasn't sitting right with him. He knew the name Extensive Enterprises before, but where was the question. He pondered this as he took another drag from the cigarette. He felt his pocket vibrate and he took out his cellphone.

"Alex Matthews."

"Hey buddy!" It was his sergeant and good friend in the reserves, Dan.

"Danno! What up bro?"

"Nada amigo. You still at work?"

Alex sighed. "Yeah, for another two hours. You guys getting together tonight?"

Dan laughed. "You know it! Scamming chicks dude! You up for it?"

Alex laughed. "You know I'm so there! Who's all going?"

"The usual crew, man! I've got to introduce you to my buddy Jason! He's in town for a Riot Gear show that was in Chi-Town tonight! He brought some hot fucking chicks with him!"

"Leave it to one of your friends to bring dates with him!" Alex took a drag. "Where you guys at tonight?"

"Northside buddy! Get your ass over here soon! I'll call if we go anywhere else! Late!"

With that Dan hung up the phone. Alex put the phone back in his pocket and finished his cigarette. He scanned his card and walked back in. He got Dave his soda and headed back to his cube; forgetting the whole idea of Extensive Enterprises, Broca Bank and Trust or the company president, Tracy Ellis. He had booze on the mind and meeting new people. He smiled as he sat down and was looking forward to the next day off from work.

So, it's the end of this part. I know, slow start. I've finished the story but I'm posting it in parts. Hopefully it'll buy a few moments so I can start on the next story. As always, let me know what you think (positive and negative). I'll have Chap. 2 up in a few, I swear.


	2. A Chance Encounter

I was planning on posting this along with the first chapter, but three in the morning was staring me down and with a one year old that usually wakes up at eight in the morning. Needless to say here is chapter two. Again, if there are any questions or reviews; please feel free to do so.

**Chapter Two: **Chance Encounter

Midnight came and Alex clocked out from the job, tossing his coat on. He tossed his backpack on and informed the overnight crew to anything funny. Dave and he walked out the door. Dave headed to his car and started it up. Alex sat and talked with him for a minute or two. Alex lived only a few blocks away; so he never saw the point of driving to work when walking was just as good. Dave always found this odd, but let it go. Alex hoofed it to Northside; which was about four blocks north of his home on the outskirts of town and two blocks south of work. Most nights after work, he would go to the bar, have a few drinks and head home. He smiled as he headed to the bar.

He made it to Northside in ten minutes. Northside was once an old warehouse that went to disrepair. The owner updated the place, did a huge remodel on the place and turned it into a bar. The main floor was huge, with a massive bar that could fit six bartenders at one time (and none of the six would be in each other's way). There was room for twenty pool tables and several dart boards; the classic cork boards that used to be in all of the taverns. The jukebox, which the bartenders had access to and ran all the time, was classic rock, punk and metal. There was a small area on the second floor; mainly offices and a decent V.I.P. lounge.

Alex walked in and smiled to Manny the bouncer. "Sup, bro?"

Manny smiled. He shook Alex's hand and pulled him into a brotherly hug. "Nothing man! Usual Wednesday night bro!"

Alex pulled his wallet out to pay the cover; Manny waved him off.

"Alex, you're one of the beautiful people tonight!" Alex looked at him in surprise. "You're V.I.P. tonight!" Manny dug into his pocket and put the V.I.P. pass around his neck.

"What aren't you telling me?"

Manny smiled. "Danny knows a rock star!"

Alex looked at him with surprise. Manny shook his hand again and pointed him to the back. Alex had been coming here since he enlisted in the Reserves. He never got to go up to the lounge. He walked up to the bar, got a beer and headed to the lounge. He would smile and make small talk to all of the regulars. He made it to the back by the stairs for the lounge. Tank and Tiny were there and greeted him. They waved him through and he climbed the stairs.

He looked around and smiled. He made the big time. The lounge was styled in a classic 40's style bar. There were a lot of comfortable chairs with small tables. There were two pool tables near the balcony. Alex nodded; there was a balcony. A straight bar was completely stocked with the best. This is stuff that they wouldn't waste on the downstairs crowd. Alex noticed a couple of his squad mates along with Dan.

In the center of the group were three girls that he didn't recognize. One was a petite Asian girl with straight black hair with some kind of highlights in her hair. She was sporting a denim jacket with a white dress shirt, black leather skirt and boots to match. The second girl had her dark hair up in a long ponytail. She was wearing a video game t-shirt, jeans and skater shoes. The third girl; a toned blonde, was in an Army jacket, black skirt with black fishnets and Army boots. The guy in the center he recognized; he was the first lead singer of Riot Gear.

"Yo, Lex! Get your ass over here!" Dan shouted. "You know this fucker, don't you!"

Alex smiled and walked over to everyone. He said quick hellos to his buddies and looked at the man. "Jason Justice. I'm a huge fan!"

"I get that all the time!" Jason laughed. "You ever see me live?"

Alex smiled again. "Saw you in South Bend with this prick before the band made it huge!" He tagged Dan in the shoulder; only to receive one in return. "You are very cool!"

Jason fake-swooned. The Asian girl smiled and rolled her eyes, while the other two giggled. "Thanks man. Glad I get to hit a couple of shows here and there." Jason turned to the girls next to him. "Alex, this is my girlfriend Kimi. Shelly's the brunette and Cassie's the blonde." Alex shook hands with each one as they were introduced. "We were just about to do another round. You in?"

Alex smiled. "Hell yeah, I'm buying!" The group hooted and hollered at this.

_A couple of hours later…_

Alex took another drink of his beer. He spent most of the night listening to stories that Dan and Jason in their youth. Most of them were just rolling and laughing. Alex got to hear some better stories that Jason had about his sergeant. He glanced at his watch and it was a few minutes after two. Most of the squad paired off and were leaving. Alex was used to it and took another drink. He looked at Dan, who passed out on one of the couches about half an hour ago and smiled. He looked at Jason and Kimi and they were talking to each other for a minute. Cassie saw a lot of the couples and got real blue. Shelly was making small talk between Cassie and him. Cassie stood up and excused herself for the balcony. Alex watched her walk over and gave a questioning look to Shelly.

"You have to forgive Cassie." Shelly said with a shrug. "She was dating this guy we know and she's had a rough time when they decided to "be just friends"." Shelly got up and followed after Cassie. Kimi noticed and excused herself; following Shelly to the balcony.

Jason looked at him and smiled. "Sorry about this Alex. It's been a rough few months for her." He shifted in his stool and took a drink. "Alex, I'm really glad you made it. Dan talks so highly about you."

Alex looked surprised. "Hell Jason, I'm just a Specialist in the reserves. I'm just a soldier." He sighed softly. "I just wished the reserves would pay more. All of that will change after the New Year."

Jason looked at him with raised eyebrow. "Hey that's pretty good. You've been in the reserves for how long?"

"Something like five years, I think." Alex drained the rest of the beer bottle. "I joined just after my dad passed away." The waitress brought him another. He took another drink. "Between the reserves, my artwork and my job; I manage."

"You're an artist?" Shelly asked as Kimi and Cassie came back to the tables.

Alex nodded. "Photography and paintings are a small part of what I do. What I really like doing is sculptures, leatherworking and forging."

Kimi gave him a look. "Could you explain what you do?"

Alex chuckled. "I build metal sculptures. I weld metal into different things." He shrugged. "The other stuff is what brings in the money. I make armor for Medieval Recreationists in the Midwest."

The four of them looked surprised and impressed at the same time. Shelly was the first to speak. "You have a forge and make armor? Why are you working at a bank processing company?"

Alex shrugged back. "All of the Renfaires and Medieval festivals are from the late spring to early fall. It's a four or five month stretch where I really get busy. Outside of that, it's dead." Alex took another drink and lit a cigarette. "Twelve bucks an hour doesn't really go very far nowadays." He took a drag. "I never was a huge fan of customer service."

"What was the name of the business again?" Kimi asked.

Alex huffed. "Computer Processing Associates; it's just a few blocks from here." Alex looked at the four of them. He could have sworn that Kimi and Shelly were shocked for a brief moment. Jason seemed to tense up for a quick second. Alex took another drink and thought nothing of it.

Alex looked at his watch. "It's almost three and while I don't have to work, I do need to get home. I have to sober up a bit and work on some stuff to sell at a Renfaire in Wisconsin." Alex stood up. "It's been a blast."

He shook hands with everyone and smiled as he walked down the stairs. He said good night to the last of the regulars that were still patronizing the bar. He saw Manny at the door and gave him a quick man-hug as he walked out the door. Alex zipped up his jacket and hoofed it to his home.

_Meanwhile…_

Jason watched Alex walk away. He sighed to himself and shook his head. He looked at the three ladies with him. He knew that they found what they were looking for. He sat back and took a sip from the beer that was in front of him. He could tell that the rest of them were thinking about this as well.

Jason, better known as Shockwave to his teammates that were around him, knew that this was they were looking for. He received word from his higher-ups on the G.I. Joe team that the terrorist organization known as Cobra was up to their old tricks. Cobra was stepping up their tactics and using legitimate businesses to get more money for their conquest of world domination.

Shockwave looked over to Dan, who was still passed out. "I think it's safe to talk."

Kimi, better known as Jinx, cleared her throat. "He should be out cold; I slipped a mickey in his last drink. He'll have a hell of a headache in the morning."

"So there's no ill side effects?" Shelly asked. She was better known as Firewall.

Jinx shook her head. "No, not at all. My cousin said that if he would take an aspirin, it would clear up."

Cassie smiled. They knew her as Sidewinder. "I'm glad that ninjas exist. I'm even happier that we're got four of the best ninjas on our side."

"Leave it to Jinx to drop a mickey in a drink around with twenty people around." Shockwave smiled to his girlfriend. He clapped his hands. "Okay team, we need to come up with a game plan before tomorrow morning. I think the first question we have to ask is about our new friend. Is he working for Cobra or is he a Cobra?"

Sidewinder lit a cigarette. "He's working in a Cobra business. I don't think he even knows that his job is a Cobra front."

Firewall nodded. "I agree. He has no clue."

Jinx nodded too. "He had a Broca Bank and Trust card in his wallet." The three looked at Jinx with a questioning look. "The power of observation. When he paid for his first round, I noticed it in his billfold. Most of the employees that work there get a card as well. They want the money they make to go right back into Cobra funding."

Shockwave listened to all of this. He agreed to all of them. "Since we're staying at Dan's, we'll convince him to take us to our new friends home and we can ask him some questions." He looked over to Dan. "Besides, it's not every day that you meet a guy that makes old armor the way that they used to."

Sidewinder nodded. "We better get him home. I have a weird feeling about tomorrow."

The four Joes paid for the rest of the tab. They picked up Dan and headed through the bar. They got out to Dan's minivan and piled in. They started up the van and headed back to Dan's house for a night's rest.

-Wow! In less than twelve hours I've had like twenty hits! I like that! Okay need to get motivated on the next story, keep this train arollin'! I'll post the third chapter here sometime this weekend. I'm trying to space this one out a little more to buy me some time. I really write when I have a day off the next day and can stay up late in the night. Thankfully my body and mind will thank me after this week (my checkbook will not unfortunately). Thanks again! I'll answer any commentary here in the next chapter or personally.


	3. A Smith's Work is Never Done

Here it is kids, Chapter Three. Thank you to those that keep reading, I appreciate it.

**Chapter Three: **Smithy at work

Alex woke up at eight in the morning. He stretched and felt his shoulder pop. He grimaced and rubbed the sore spot. He hopped out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. As he finished the morning ritual, he went to the sink and washed his hands. He looked in the mirror and smiled. Alex wasn't a small man; He stood over six feet tall and was built like a pro football linebacker. He wasn't overtly muscular, but doing an hour's worth of PT every morning kept him in shape. Between that and working in his shop, he was built and toned. He took the hairbrush from the sink and ran it through his light brown hair. He put the brush down and rubbed the goatee; thinking that he'd have to trim it down tonight. Alex popped out his contacts and put on his glasses. He walked back into his room and grabbed his jeans, a thermal shirt and his Dad's old flak vest. He laced up his boots and walked downstairs to the kitchen.

Alex's home was an old farmhouse on the outskirts of Port Haven. It was a simple design of three bedrooms on the top floor and a full bath. The main floor contained the library, main living room, dining room and kitchen. He walked into the kitchen and made a cup of coffee. Alex took the leftover pizza from the fridge and inhaled the three remaining pieces. He took the coffee mug and filled a big sized thermos with the rest. Grabbing his pack of cigarettes; he walked out of the house and to the barn.

The barn was Alex's pride and joy. When he bought the house just after his Dad passed away, he converted the small barn into a modern day working forge. He had the tools and anvils with a huge fire pit to melt down the metals. He checked the water used for cooling. He made a mental note to recycle this water out when he was done and refill it. Alex even had an area with some of the leather goods that he made; saddles mostly and a full outfit of leather armor. He actually had a small business with the local farmers and 4-H kids in the area to do shoeing for their horses. He walked into the small office; checking to see if he had any clients today.

"Looks like the Gordon family will be by to have the horses shoed in an hour." Alex lit up a cigarette as he turned on the computer to check orders. "Hm, an order for a mail plate for chest and shoulders." He looked at the measurements and made a few notes. He wrote them down and pocketed them. He went over to the fires and worked to get them hotter than they were. He smiled as he put on his apron and got to work.

_Three hours later…_

Dan drove the van past the bar that they were at last night and down a country road. He looked in the rear view mirror and smiled. Kimi was looking around at everything that they were going past. Cassie had nodded off and Shelly was on her laptop, checking out Alex's site. Jason sat in the passenger's seat; not saying much but seemed to be lost in thought. Dan continued down the road to Alex's home.

"Do you think he'll mind the visit?" Shelly said. "I really like some of the products that he's offering. He really makes everything in his shop?"

Dan nodded. "Yep. It's amazing that he does all of this in his free time." Dan sniffed. "After his sister passed away, he came back from the combat zone. He stays to himself a lot. He had a girlfriend there for about a year, but they recently broke up. He does the Guard thing once a month and the two weeks in the summer. Most Saturdays, I head over and help him out and take him to the grocery store. Since Christmas is on Saturday, figure that I'd take him today."

Jason looked over to Dan. "He doesn't drive?"

"He has a license and a truck, but he rarely uses it." Dan shifted in his seat. "He mainly has the license when we have to drive the deuces to where we train. He takes the truck to the dump once a month when he runs low on materials." Dan pulled up to the house; putting the van in park. The four of them walked out and followed Dan to the barn.

Shelly and Cassie whistled. "An actual working forge?" Cassie was surprised as she spoke. Shelly put her laptop back into her backpack and was grinning ear to ear.

"Easy Shelly; I don't think he'll do the epic armor for you." Jason joked.

Shelly looked at her feet in embarrassment. "It won't hurt to ask. He advertised it on the site." Cassie smiled and gave her a quick hug.

"It's the thought that counts, Shell."

The four of them walked over to the opening of the barn. Sure enough, Alex had a piece of metal about chest size on the anvil. He was hammering out a curved shape of the armor. The four Joes were amazed at this.

Kimi walked to Jason and got his attention. "How did we miss this from his file?" She whispered.

Jason shrugged. "No idea babe, but who knows?"

Alex stretched and looked over to the door. "Wasn't expecting you to bring company, Danno. I could put all of you to work this morning." He lit a cigarette. "But hell, come on in and warm up. Don't get too close to the ovens; they're at a high temp."

Kimi took off her jacket. "How hot is it in here?" Cassie and Jason did the same. Shelly was almost star struck and was wondering around the barn.

Alex looked above the barn door. "About eighty degrees. It's a nice mix of the heat in here and the wind from Lake Michigan." He put the project down and walked toward them. He shook hands with the group. "So what brings you guys out this way?"

Dan was about to say something, but went stiff and slumped over. Kimi was standing behind Dan with her hand out.

"What the Hell!" Alex pulled out one of the large hammers from his apron. Jason pulled a pistol and tried to aim it at Alex. Alex swung the hammer in an arc; knocking the pistol out of Jason's hand and right into one of the ovens. He tackled Jason and rolled past him. He stood up and saw Cassie coming towards him. Alex crouched down and swept her legs from underneath her. He leapt backwards in a handspring; landing on his feet. He barely saw Kimi out of corner of his eye. He ducked the roundhouse kick aimed at his head and swung at her side. Kimi barely dodged the punch; she felt the fist glance off of her left side. She felt a twinge of pain. She moved out of range and took stance. Alex did the same facing her.

Jason came from behind him; putting him in a bear hug. Alex bent down a bit; grabbing his left leg. Alex stood up and put most of his weight back, landing all of his mass on Jason. He rolled back into a crouch. He swung the hammer in the direction of Cassie; the handle of the ten pound hammer hitting full force in the gut. She bent over from getting the wind knocked out of her. Alex moved so quickly that she met Kimi and Cassie at the same time. He grabbed a hand each; flipping the two of them. Cassie landed hard on her butt while Kimi barely landed on her feet. She looked at Alex and noticed that he was barely fatigued.

Alex pulled a nail from his apron and flung it at Shelly; lodging the nail in the barrel of her pistol. She dropped it and went for her bag. Kimi flew at him again, with Alex dodging the petite woman. She landed next to him and Alex tapped her leg. Kimi stood up fully, only to drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes.

It was then that Alex stood up and slowed his breathing. He closed his eyes and stood with his hands pointing down; opening and closing his hands slowly. Alex watched them each; Jason slowly getting to his feet, holding his stomach. Cassie was doing the same thing as she tried to get up. Shelly moved towards her friends, looking pale and shaken. Kimi was looking at him in surprise and awe in the same look.

Alex opened his eyes and looked at the group. "I suppose there's a real good reason for attacking me." Alex popped his neck and then cracked his knuckles. "You guys better not be from Cobra. I told them that I wasn't interested a couple of months ago and my mind hasn't changed."

Jason laughed out loud. "Well Joes, there went that theory."

Alex looked at Jason with surprise. "Joes? As in G.I. Joe?" He sat down and put his forehead in his right hand. "Shit. How much trouble am I in?" He lit up a cigarette.

Cassie sat in a chair and did the same. "What the fuck did you do?"

Alex put his wrists out. "Alright I'm ready for the stockade. Lock me up."

"We're not going to lock you up Alex." Jason stood up. "I think that we need to discuss a few things here." He walked over to Kimi and picked her up. "May we go inside and discuss this? I think we need to lick our wounds."

Alex nodded as he picked up Dan, tossing him over his shoulder and the six of them walked into his house.

Sorry this one was on the short end. I had written this on the spur of the moment originally. I still think it's fitting. Enjoy!


	4. Misunderstanding

Morning everyone! I meant to do this last night, but was so damn tired I didn't. Happy St. Patrick's to you all! As a gift for the holiday, I'm getting two chapters up today! Here's the first.

**Chapter Four: **Misunderstanding

Alex led the way into his home. He kicked his boots off and walked to the couch; placing Dan on it as gently as possible. He walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge. He found a couple of beers and four bottles of water. He grabbed the water and beers and walked back into the living room. He placed the water and one beer on the coffee table. He opened the other beer; taking a long drink from it. Kimi looked at him and was about to speak from one of the Queen Anne chairs. Alex put a finger up and walked back into the kitchen.

"How did he do that?" Kimi asked to no one in particular.

Jason shrugged as he leaned against the fireplace. Shelly opened her bag and pulled out her laptop, finding a seat in the other Queen Anne chair. Cassie was rolling her left shoulder. "I'm not sure, but God damn that hurt."

Alex walked back into the living room. He had a smile on his face and tossed a bag of ice to Cassie. "You'd be surprised what I know." He handed the other two bags to Jason and Kimi. He lifted Dan's feet and took a seat on the couch.

"What I want to know is; what the hell is the glorious G.I. Joe team is doing in this backwater city that I know and love?"

Jason cleared his throat. "How did you know about Cobra?"

Alex snorted. "Anyone in the military, including lowly Reservists know about the Joe team. You can't have Jesus without the Devil. So that's how I know about Cobra." He took a drink from his beer. "Now, you want to answer my question?"

Kimi nodded. "It's only fair." She cracked her neck. "I'm Agent Jinx of the G.I. Joe team." She pointed to each person. "The computer tech is Firewall. The soldier icing her left shoulder is Sidewinder. The man at the fireplace is Shockwave."

"So those names you gave me are fakes?" Alex interrupted.

Shockwave shook his head. "No, they are our real first names. On base, we go by codenames on duty. We know each other by our real names not on duty."

Alex nodded. "Let me take a guess; you're in town looking for Cobra activity?"

Firewall nodded. "We've been working a mission in town. We, I mean the team, are trying to access some records."

Jinx continued. "We believe that activity through legal means is going to the Cobra organization. We can't prove it, but we know it's out there."

Alex snapped his fingers. "The Broca bank robberies; you guys were looking for information."

Jinx nodded. It started making some sense to him.

Alex lit another cigarette, noticing Sidewinder doing the same thing. "There's an ashtray on the mantle of the fireplace." He took a drag, looking at Jinx. "So how do I fit into this equation? I'm not a Cobra agent."

"You mentioned that they were looking to hire you." Sidewinder growled.

Alex snorted again. "I would have my reasons to do so." Everyone looked at him with shock. "I'm not about to fall for their bullshit sweetheart." He glared at Sidewinder. "They're fucking terrorists. Who do you think planned the whole 9/11 tragedy? Go on about Al-Qaeda all you want, you're looking for a fucker that's on dialysis. They never claimed they did it, Cobra did; well the Coil did."

"How did you know that?" Firewall asked.

Alex grunted. "I missed my senior year to volunteer to help at Ground Zero. I got my G.E.D. while in New York. Came home and wanted to join the Army but my mom got sick." He sighed. "Sorry, anyways I was down there helping out. I saw a bunch of Cobra shit in the rubble. I'm not stupid."

Jinx looked at him. "Not many people know that."

Alex shrugged. "It doesn't matter. I knew that and when I went to work with Computer Processing Associates, they showed up a few weeks later. So I told them to let the door hit them in the ass on the way out."

Shockwave chuckled. "They came back, didn't they?"

Alex nodded. "That's right; showed up a week later. There was five of them, looked all the same. I didn't pay it any attention. They kept asking questions about my military career and what I did in the workshop. I told them to get out." He took a drag. "I guess they didn't like that answer. They pulled automatic rifles out of their trenchcoats."

"You use those fancy moves you pulled on us?" Shockwave asked, smiling.

Alex tapped his nose twice. "Killed two of them with those fancy spikes I jammed into Firewall's pistol. They shot up the shop pretty good. Took out a third with that ten pound sledge I had." Alex took a quick drink. "I killed the fourth and injured the fifth with an I.E.D. that I made. I warned the survivor that I didn't want any of them on my doorstep ever again. I made the survivor put the bodies in his car and sent him on his way."

Shockwave gave a low whistle. Jinx just shook her head in amazement. Sidewinder looked at him with disgust and a mere sign of admiration. They sat quietly for a few moments when Alex spoke.

"That's my story. I know that I'd do anything to get even with those creeps."

Sidewinder's eyebrow cocked up. "Anything?"

Alex shrugged. "Well, just about anything. I'm a moral man. I would do what I could to put a hurt on them. It seems only right."

Jinx looked at Shockwave and nodded. "You realize that you're working for a Cobra front company?"

Alex stood up. "You want to run that past me again?"

Firewall waved to him. "Both Broca Bank and Trust and your employer are Cobra front companies. They're infamous for using anagrams for their fronts."

Alex grabbed a notepad and pencil from the coffee table. He scribbled on it for a moment. "I get Broca. That one makes a hell of a lot of sense." He wrote on it again, figuring out Computer Processing Associates. He put the notepad down. "Upside down b; now that makes a lot of sense." He took out his wallet and pulled out the Broca bank card that he had. Alex frowned at it; snapping it in two.

Jinx walked over to him. "I know that this is hard to grasp…" Alex moved away.

"It's a bit of a reach, I'll give you that." Alex sighed. "Okay, so what do you want from me? I don't have access to any of the bank records."

Firewall smiled over her laptop. "Not a problem; all I need is access to a terminal and I can find what I'm looking for. Hacking the network won't be a problem for me."

"You'll need me to get in." Alex nodded. "Looks like I'm working with you guys then."

Sidewinder moved from the fireplace. "No way, you're out of this. You know too much."

Jinx looked at her. "We need him." Sidewinder was ready to retort, but Jinx put her hand up. "Cass, I don't like it either but we can't get in the building without him."

Alex smiled. "Which works out nicely for us; Thursday is always a different crew that comes in and cleans."

"We can do this." Shockwave nodded. "Okay let's go over the plan."

With the one conversation; the five of them had the plan all laid out. Thursday would be the best time to pull this off and the holiday starting the next day; Cobra wouldn't know what hit them. All the time, Dan lay on the couch; passed out from a modified Arashikage death touch. It what was on him that would be trouble.

_At Computer Processing Associates…_

Tracy Ellis sat at her mahogany desk; listening to what was going on. She took careful notes and smiled to herself. She moved forward and grabbed her coffee. She walked from her office to the communications office. She took her keycard from her blazer pocket and unlocked the door. The three women in the office turned and looked at her. She smiled at them.

"I take it that you all got that." Tracy smiled, taking a drink from her cup.

The woman nearest the door nodded. "Yes ma'am. Daniel has been transmitting since he left his apartment this morning. He's probably out cold, but the bug has been doing the work for him."

Tracy nodded. "Tele-Vipers; keep up the wonderful work. I'll be in my office when you need me." She turned and walked to the door.

"Hail Cobra! Hail Diamondback!" Diamondback smiled as she walked out the door and out into the hallway.

So who is Diamondback? Well, you'll find out in the next chapter...


	5. Snakes in the Grass

So as promised, the fifth chapter. I really had to do this one as well; it connects with the last chapter so well. Anyways, have a wonderful St. Patrick's (Irish or not) and I'll make sure to post as often as I can. Meanwhile, the next story is coming along quite well. It's going to be a bit of an epic for me. I'll start getting that one posted once this is finished.

Sorry, I'm rambling. On to the fifth chapter.

**Chapter Five: **Snakes in the Grass

Tracy Ellis walked out of the communications department and headed to the break room to freshen up her coffee. She walked in and was greeted by smiles and nods. Every now and then, one of her co-workers would call her by her codename. She merely smiled; she knew everyone working at Computer Processing Associates. She knew everyone by name and what they did; inside the company and inside the Cobra organization. This was her family.

She got her coffee and headed back to her office. She greeted everyone that she passed. When she got to her office, she closed the door and sat down. She sighed to herself. She picked up the phone on her desk. She pressed the intercom button.

"Attention CPA family, I need to see all department heads in my office in five minutes." She cleared her throat and repeated the announcement. She hung up the phone and sighed again. She looked at the big picture on her desk; a picture of her and her father. She grabbed it and smiled; tears coming to her eyes. He was dressed in his Crimson Guardsman uniform and she was hugging him.

Tracy smiled through the tears, brushing a few strands of brown hair out of her face. Her father was one of the original Siegies that saved the life of Cobra Commander. He fought alongside the Commander for many years, until dying in battle. He fought to save the Commander's life during the second Cobra Civil War. She touched the image of her father; missing him more and more in the last five years than ever before.

Tracy never knew her birth mother. She didn't believe in the Cobra way of life. Tracy was raised in it. She started the first female Junior Cobra League at the age of eight. The six girls were noticed by Cobra high command. The Commander himself set them out to be the first Siegie unit that was all female. They were trained with the other Siegies and the six of them were absolutely lethal; in beauty and in the field. They excelled and were initiated into the ranks; they taught the future women of Cobra to be as hard boiled as they were.

Tracy sighed again. She was the last left of the original six. She eat, slept and breathed Cobra. When her father passed, she led the team that got the Commander out. She was the last one standing alongside her Commander. He gave her this position as compensation; she took it. She could work with the family that she knew and made sure that Cobra would continue to be strong. She put the picture down and wiped her eyes. The knock on the door was letting her know the heads were ready.

She opened the door; ushering the six managers in. She knew they would defend to the last; it was what she expected of her soldiers. She looked them over and smiled.

"I thank all of you for being here on short notice."

Jessica Morrison; head of the Tele-Vipers (Communications) onsite raised her hand. "We'd like to know what the orders are for tomorrow."

Caleb Williams; acting head of the Techno-Vipers (Operations) smiled. "I take it one of the Joes figured it out and are leading an invasion of our headquarters?"

Tracy nodded. "We're under alarm status Omega. They will be invading tomorrow evening. I will pass the recorded information on to all of you." She took a drink of her coffee. "You will go over that status with all in your departments. When the battle plans are reviewed, each area will follow protocol in a hostile takeover."

Mike Blankenship; head of the Alley-Vipers (Security) smiled. "We'll make sure that if they get in; they won't get out."

Fred Broca; Commander of the Crimson Guard under Diamondback nodded. "We'll make sure that you're well protected, ma'am." Diamondback nodded to them. She looked at the squad commanders.

"All of you are to defend the information and data collected in here and make sure it does not leave here."

Aaron Richards; squad commander of team Adder nodded. "I'll make sure that the patrols are three man and we'll watch the floors as well as the perimeter."

Bethany Cross; squad commander of team Anaconda laughed. "The offices leading to the readouts and information will not be broken."

Tracy smiled to them again. "I know that you will do your best. We had nothing but success to look forward to. Take them alive if possible, but I'll take them dead as well. We fight for what is ours, for the glory of the Commander."

"All Hail Cobra! All Hail The Commander! All Hail Diamondback!" They turned and walked back to their offices. She would make sure that her family was taken care of. She would not let them down. She knew that they wouldn't let her down. She sat back down at her desk and went over the protocols for defense.

I know that the last couple of chapters have been short. It's all building to something I promise. Thanks for reading.


	6. Into the Nest

Thank you guys for reading. I'm glad that readership is steady and I'm noticing that people are favoriting my story. Thank you. It really means a lot to me as a writer. It gives me the motivation to continue this story and the next one.

For the record faithful readers, you don't have to favorite this or ANY of my stories. I appreciate it. Again, I would like to hear what you think (good and bad).

Many special thanks go out to Strapakai and WillWriteforFics for your earlier guidance and helpful insights. They didn't go unnoticed and I'm grateful for your help.

**Chapter Six: **Into the Nest

Alex sat at his station. The night before Christmas was always dead. He was nervous to what was going on; it was the lesser of two evils for him. If you looked at it from one view, he could be staring down some serious jail time. Working for a banking institution meant that you access to a majority of records; which contained personal information on thousands of people. Taking that information, no matter the reason would get him in a federal penitentiary for at least ten to twenty; that's if he was lucky. The other view was that Cobra would be losing most, if not all of their covert ways money was funding the organization. That would be a lost job for him. Once Cobra figured out that the information was handed to the Joes; that would be a death sentence. He would be hunted until killed or the information was recovered; maybe both.

Still, in the back of his mind he knew what he had to do. Alex was an American. He believed in the country that he lived in. Taking, or at least helping, to take down a terrorist organization was his God given right. As a soldier, he was to protect his homeland from any threat; internal or external. Cobra was a threat; no matter how they doctored it up. If what he did led to jail or death; he would embrace what the fates laid out in the cards for him.

He looked at the clock and it was a few minutes to eight. He looked under his desk at the backpack that he brought from home. Inside were a few things he figured that they might need; an small army medkit, two Desert Eagle pistols with two dozen loaded clips, some food, a couple of loaded canteens with water and a couple of nasty surprises if he should need them. He was ready for a battle. He grabbed his smokes and walked out to the back dock. He walked out, standing on the dock and lit up. He took a couple of drags and watched the cleaning van pull into the parking lot. He watched as the four of them walked towards him in street clothes. Jinx veered off to the side and scaled the building. She was going to be in the air ducts while the others would work from the floor. He decided to get into character; playing dumb was something he could do.

"You guys are a little early tonight." Alex smiled at the man.

"It's Christmas. We've got one more job to do after this and we're done for three days."

Alex nodded, putting out the cigarette. "You know the drill; got to have you guys sign in at the back door." They nodded and followed Alex through the door. Once they signed in, he put visitor badges on them.

"Just remember to sign out when you're done. Page me to let you guys out." The three of them nodded. "Who's doing our area tonight?"

Firewall smiled. "I'm your girl." She took one of the rolling trash cans and followed Alex. He turned down the hallway and let her into the locked areas. He used his key card and opened the door. Alex went back into the office and left Firewall out in the phone room. She emptied the trash and went into the room Alex walked into. She knocked and let herself in.

Alex gave her a thumbs up. "Checked the room myself and I checked everywhere. We're clean and no one should see what we're doing."

Firewall reached into the trash can and pulled out her backpack. She carried it over to Alex's computer. She pulled a wire from the laptop and plugged it into his PC. Opening the laptop; she typed a few keys and hear a chime.

She smiled. "I'm in." There were a few more keystrokes. "God, this is a sad security system that they've got here. I'm surprised that no one has tried to hack this system before."

Alex smiled. He tossed his bag onto his back. "I'm not sure what you'll get from here."

Firewall shrugged. "I probably could get most of the files. I'll need to see what I can get." She grabbed his chair. "It'll take a couple of minutes."

Alex shrugged and grabbed another chair. "I'll be ready to move when we're done here."

Firewall nodded. "No problem." She looked over to the laptop. "Been meaning to ask you something, but I'll understand if it's a no." Alex raised an eyebrow. "I was asking if you could make a Epic set of Mage armor for me…"

Alex laughed. "Sure kiddo. Take the jacket off." Firewall did as he asked, while he took out a rolled tape measure. "Agents of Light or Dark Alliance?"

Firewall looked at him in amazement. "How?"

Alex smiled back at her, taking her measurements. "It's a popular item. I sell those Epic sets. If it wasn't for the deal I've worked out with Burnout Studios, I would have charged less."

Firewall looked at him in awe. "You're so cool."

Alex shrugged, with a bit of redness to his cheeks. "It's no big deal. You want the regular set or the more deluxe?"

"Deluxe, please." Firewall was practically bouncing. They both heard the chime come from the laptop. "Ooh, we're done." She walked over to the laptop.

"Anything good?"

Firewall nodded. "I got most of the files." She clicked on a few things. "One last thing is the employment records."

Alex scratched his chin. "That's going to be a bit harder Firewall. There are two ways to get that info. Either one going to pretty tricky." Firewall looked at him confused. "We're either going to have to enter the records and communications department or break into Diamondback's office."

Firewall scratched her ear. "You guys catch that?"

"Loud and clear kiddo." It was Shockwave's voice that he heard. Alex looked at Firewall confused. She smiled at him, brushing her hair away from her right ear. Alex noticed a small earpiece that was a two-way communicator. She pushed her hair back to cover it. Alex nodded his approval. He grabbed his smokes and headed out to the dock. This was the rendezvous spot to put the mission in place and to get out. The rest of the team, minus Jinx showed up.

I take it there are good and bad in this situation?" Sidewinder asked.

Alex nodded. "Yeah; depending on what you think. If we hit the comms room, the files are encrypted. I have a passcode to access the records, but to access the employee files is a security level above my current level. We get locked out and we're screwed."

"What about Diamondback's office?" Jinx whispered. Alex looked around and didn't see her. He realized that she heard everything in the ceiling.

"Access to computer will be hard, but she has access to the employee records."

They stood there for a moment. Shockwave was the first to speak.

"Which is closer?"

Alex grunted. "Both offices are on the other side of the building. Granted that comms is closer. Ellis' office is right near the front door. We're going to have to go through operations. It's a huge room with processors and cubicles."

"Probably where they're in wait for us." Shockwave nodded. "Either way it's going to be a rough time either way."

"We go for the comms room." Firewall cracked her knuckles. "It's an easier layout."

"I need to erase my computer." Alex agreed. "It won't matter, but I'm done here."

Firewall smiled to him. "Already did it. Gave your computer a nasty bug. It should be crashing now."

Sure enough, they went into the room and to his cubicle. The computer was in bad shape. Alex had to smile. That moment didn't last as alarms started blaring across the P.A. system. Alex looked around. He wasn't smiling.

"That's a new alarm." He took off his sweatshirt, revealing a white t-shirt. The blacksmith was well toned from his work. He had both of his arms tattooed; showing many different images. He stuffed the sweatshirt into a separate compartment of the bag.

"Nice ink you've got there Matthews." Shockwave smiled.

Alex smiled. He looked over at Firewall and Sidewinder. Firewall was nodding in approval while Sidewinder was lost in amazement. Alex moved to Sidewinder; taking a thumb to the bottom of her chin. Sidewinder came to and looked at his in amazement.

Alex smiled. "You've got a little drool right there." He motioned to the left side of her mouth. Sidewinder blushed and absently wiped at her mouth.

"It's not funny!" Sidewinder wiped again. Shockwave shook his head, reaching into the trash can. He handed a MP5 to Firewall and Sidewinder. He took out an M4 for himself. Sidewinder took the other M4 and was about to put the MP5 back in the can. Alex motioned for it, wrapping the strap around him.

"They'll be coming from the door. I suggest that we get some cover until we know whom we're dealing with." Shockwave said on the move. The other Joes followed. Alex took his seat again. He was going to play decoy.

He didn't have to wait long. The door opened a minute or two later. Five Vipers rushed into the room, weapons drawn. Alex looked up and reached for the lighter fluid. He palmed a tennis ball in the other.

"Something wrong guys?"

The lead Viper pointed the weapon at him. "Get up! You're coming with us."

Alex shrugged as he got up. He aimed the lighter fluid and sprayed the Viper, accidently getting the other two Vipers flanking him. They were in shock getting sprayed with the fluid. The three looked at him and started to aim their rifles at him. Alex smirked and showed them the tennis ball. The three Vipers watched with curiosity as Alex hurled the ball at them. The tennis ball hit the helmet of the lead Viper, igniting upon impact. The lead Viper was trying to put the fire out. The other two took aim but Alex was quicker on the draw. Pointing two Desert Eagles at them, Alex pulled the triggers once. Both bullets found their mark; one bullet hitting right between the eyes and the other hitting a jugular. Both hit the ground dead and dying. Shockwave grabbed one Viper; putting him through one of the desks. Sidewinder grabbed the second; with a quick motion snapping his neck. The final Viper had removed his flak vest and helmet. He stood looking at the three Joes and Alex.

Alex's face registered surprise and rage at the same time. "Aaron? Aaron Richards? How could you!"

He smiled back. "Cobra has deep pockets. Callie needed an operation. I couldn't say no."

"Who else?" Alex shouted.

Aaron snorted. "You were the only holdout. The whole company is a Cobra front."

Alex didn't say a word. He walked up to Aaron and knocked him out in one punch. He stood over him for a moment or two, breathing heavily. Firewall walked over to him; placing a hand on his shoulder.

Alex huffed. "I was at his wedding. I've seen his son being born." His breathing slowed; trying to calm himself down. "I considered these people my family."

"Alex…" Firewall started, but Alex stopped her by raising his hand. He picked up the flak vest and put it on. He took the grenades and tossed all of them to Shockwave. He zipped the vest up. He picked up his bag and took out over a dozen clips. He started placing them on and in the vest. The rest of them went into the cargo pockets of his fatigues. He finished by putting his bag on and lighting a cigarette.

"Alex you don't…" Alex stopped Sidewinder this time. He looked dead at Shockwave.

"Some of these people were my friends. I'm going to do my best not to kill them, but I know that they're going to try to kill us. I won't hold it against you guys if you DO kill them."

Shockwave nodded. "Lead the way. We need the rest of the files." He smiled and handed Alex a small communicator. He placed it in his ear and smiled. Shockwave nodded to him and ushered him to the door.

Alex nodded once, leading them out of the room and down the hallway. Okay, if this is how you want to play; let's dance, Alex thought. He led them out to the computer area. He would deal with his friends; one at a time.

Ooh. Things are going to heat up in seven! I'll have seven up this weekend! Enjoy for the time being!


	7. Firefight

Thanks for your continued reading. It's time for some action...

**Chapter Seven: **Firefight

Alex led the team out of the locked computer area to the main hallway. They turned right and headed down the hallway. Alex and Shockwave checked the couple of doors as they passed; only to find nothing. As they moved closer to the right hand turn in the hallway, the lights powered off.

"Oh, terrific." Sidewinder mumbled.

Alex looked at her. "Emergency lights should kick on here in three, two…" Sure enough, the emergency lights kicked on. "Hm, bit early." He shrugged and motioned them to follow. They made the right turn and continued down the hallway. They continued down the hallway until they reached a double set of doors. They stopped outside of them and regrouped.

"The lights are still on in here." Firewall commented.

Alex nodded. "Company cafeteria. There's not much in there except a bunch of tables and a few vending machines."

"Hm, it could be a trap." Shockwave commented.

Alex lit up. "Oh yeah, it's a trap. It's the only way to access to Operations and the offices. Most of our resistance will be here."

Shockwave and Sidewinder looked through the doors. They sat back down.

"The two full squads of Vipers are easy." Sidewinder smiled.

"Yeah, but that one squad of Alley Vipers are going to be a treat." Shockwave grunted. Alex looked at him confused. "Alley Vipers are urban combat specialists. They have shields that will block most standard rounds from our weapons."

"Shields? Hm…" Alex scratched his goatee. "Let me guess; they're guarding the door on the other side?" Shockwave nodded. "Piece of cake. Let me borrow someone's knife." Alex placed his backpack on the ground and took out two long devices.

"Homemade pipe bombs; ceramic casing with enough explosives to tear a deuce apart." He took Shockwave's knife from him. "We're going to cut this real close." He took the knife and cut off most of the wicks off of them. "Wicks were set for thirty seconds, but we're going for less than that."

"You sure about this?" Firewall asked with a nervous giggle.

Alex shrugged. "No, not really." He handed the knife back to Shockwave. "Thanks. These will take care of our more serious problem. I'm going to need a distraction."

Shockwave smiled. "Got ya covered; one flash-bang coming up." He took the small device out of his pocket.

"Go left with that and cover me." Alex nodded. He did a countdown on his fingers from three to one. Using his lit cigarette, he lit the bombs as Shockwave threw in the flash-bang. The bang went off causing the Vipers to look in the direction where it went off. Alex shoved the other door open throwing the first bomb at the Alley Vipers; aiming at chest height. In the same fluid motion, he flipped the second bomb from his left to right hand and flipped the second bomb behind the group. The first explosive went to the left and went off early; only killing two Vipers and injuring two more. The second one did more damage; bouncing off of the other double door and landing in the middle of the rest. The Alley Vipers looked at it long enough for it to go off; killing seven of the eight remaining.

Shockwave, Sidewinder and Firewall went left; moving a couple of tables on end for protection. Alex moved to the pillar closer to the remaining Vipers. Alex looked from his vantage point and noticed that the Vipers were just setting up tables. He watched as some of the fell to the wayside as the three Joes were picking their targets. He looked to where the Vipers were and saw two full squads behind tables that were getting riddled with bullets. Every now and then he would see one fall over dead. It was the screaming of a female's voice that made him focus on their leader.

"Son of a bitch! You killed Mike you fucker!"

Sure enough, Alex looked to the Alley Vipers and noticed Mike Blankenship in a couple of pieces. The screaming banshee was his ex-girlfriend Bethany Cross.

"Asshole got what he deserved Bethy!" Alex and Mike were bitter enemies ever since he stole Bethany from him. "I'm still not taking you back!"

"You'll die for that!" Random shots were coming from her position. He tapped the earpiece to get the Joes attention.

"Speak up; I can't hear you over the gunfire!" Shockwave laughed.

"You're sick Shockwave!" Alex laughed as well. "Try not to kill the banshee. I want to talk to her!"

"No promises!" Sidewinder shouted. "She's an easy target with all the screaming she's doing. What did you do?"

"Her boyfriend is all in pieces about me coming between them again!"

"Now who's sick?" Shockwave stated. "We'll try not to hurt her, but we need to hurry!"

Shots were getting closer to Alex's head. He turned his attention back to the battle. He took aim and started firing. While the Joes were doing a better job of killing the Vipers, Alex had a harder time. Sure, he felt justified for killing the man that got in between him and Bethany; yet for some reason or another he couldn't get the kill shots with the others. Some of these people he knew were there for him when he needed them.

The Vipers' numbers were dwindling. Alex found it odd that most of them were offing themselves. Maybe they realized that it was a desperate situation. If the Joes weren't questioning it, then he wouldn't. He saw that Bethany and one other Viper were still alive. He decided that now was the time. He reloaded both pistols and ran for their position; firing wildly to keep them pinned down. He ran onto a chair and ran over the tops of two tables. He flung himself over their position. He landed behind the barricade and aimed at the remaining two. They aimed for him, but Alex was faster. He pulled the triggers two times each; emptying the clips. The masked Viper was dead with two head shots while Bethany took two shots in the gut and heart respectively. He felt a burning feeling on the left side of his stomach. He slowed his breathing and crawled over to Bethany. She was moving, but only barely. Alex placed the empty barrel to her forehead. He looked her in the face; she was crying.

"I'm sorry baby."

Alex nodded. "I know why you did it."

"You didn't fight for me? Why?"

Alex took the gun away from her head. "You needed to learn that he wasn't any good for you." Alex smiled as he felt tears coming to his eyes. "I told you that I'd kill you someday."

Bethany laughed lightly; holding her stomach and chest. "Always the comedian." They both knew she was slipping away. "Alexander, I …"

"Shh, it doesn't matter now." He brushed some of the hair out of her eyes. "Go to sleep baby. The pain will be over soon." He placed a hand under her head and kissed her. He gave her a few quick kisses as she passed on to the other world. He removed his hand and opened her vest. Underneath it, he found a gold necklace that he gave her. He removed it and put around his neck. He placed his forehead to hers and gave himself a few moments to grieve. He heard the Joes heading his way and didn't care. He needed this moment for himself.

"Whoa, sorry man." Shockwave commented.

Firewall didn't say anything, but she turned to Shockwave. She sniffed a couple of times as Shockwave put an arm around her. Alex sat up to a kneeling position. He reloaded the Eagles. Sidewinder was the only one that spoke in the moment.

"Better she bought it than us."

"Sidewinder!" Firewall shouted.

Alex stood up and took aim at Sidewinder. He pulled the trigger; aiming just right of her head. The bullet just grazed her cheek. He stormed over to her and put the Eagle under her chin. She retaliated by putting the barrel of the M4 under his.

"Matthews, Sidewinder; stand down!" Shockwave shouted.

Alex ignored him. "You're not the only one that fucking hurts when you lose someone! I know that you're upset and dealing with your issue, but let me grieve on mine! I just killed the only woman I've loved! Do you know what that feels like!"

Sidewinder lowered her weapon. She started to shake. "Yes."

Alex backed off as well. He held up the Eagle. "There have been times that I've wanted to dine on this, but I didn't. You know why?" Sidewinder shook her head. "I've got too much I want to do with this existence before I go. I want to be a Ranger, I want to get married and have a family. I want to be happy. I was almost there up until a few months ago." He pointed at Bethany with the other Eagle. "She dumped me for no reason and I didn't figure it out until I K.O.'Ed that piece of shit Aaron in my work area."

Alex stepped back and kicked the vending machine. It made a noise and dispensed four Mountain Dews. This made him start to chuckle. He looked up to the ceiling and laughed.

"You're very funny."

Firewall walked over. "You okay?" Shockwave and Sidewinder walked over, both of them had smiles playing on their faces.

"Yeah Shelly, for the first time in a while." He took the four cans and handed them out to the Joes. "Do you guys believe that Fate exists?"

Shockwave opened his can. "Oh yeah, I do. She's funny sometimes."

"You talk about Fate like she's a real person." Firewall said, downing the can and getting change for another.

"Just kick the machine Shelly; it works better that way." Alex sighed. "Remind me, if the five of us get out of this alive for me to explain my views on it, okay?"

"Sure Alex, let's just not have a repeat of this again, okay?" Shockwave said.

"Not a problem Jason." Alex turned to Sidewinder. "Sorry Cassie, I did mean to shoot you but I missed on purpose. It's not your fault; you said what you thought was appropriate. You didn't know. I'm really sorry."

Sidewinder nodded. "Accepted; just don't do that again." She sighed. "Sorry I said what I said. That was uncalled for and I'm sorry."

Firewall was still kicking the machine as Alex spoke. "It's forgotten. Look, let's get moving. We're almost there and whatever guards are left are going to be on high alert." Alex sighed. "I hope Jinx is okay. Where is she?"

"She's going for the communications office. If we should have any problems with the first stop, she'll head for Diamondback's office. She's fine." Shockwave nodded. "Lead the way Alex."

They all finished their drinks. Firewall downed two more as they headed towards the doors. They checked and reloaded their weapons as Alex took point and pushed through the doors.

Ouch. Pretty harsh huh? Poor Alex. You have to feel bad for the guy. There's a reason for this and all will be found out. I assure you.

As always, I'm looking forward to your reviews. Thanks for your input. Next chapter will be up by Thursday...


	8. Record Time

So we've followed most of the team and we'll see what happens next.

Many thanks to the readers; thanks for the motivation. Special thanks to polarpi for added motivation.

On to the story...

**Chapter Eight: **New Record

Jinx scaled the wall when her teammates went in the back door. She went over the plans in her head over and over as she made it over to the vent that was over the sink in the cafeteria. She gently opened the vent and lowered herself into the vent system. She recovered the entryway and found her way in the dark vents. As she looked down the vent, she saw light at the vent points. At least part of the pathway was lit for her. She moved with the grace of a cat in the vents; barely making a noise. She would look through each vent as she passed it. She would notice the rooms as she passed. Most of them were of little concern; a few offices spotted the landscape, the bathrooms and a closet with cleaning supplies. She reached a T-junction and turned left, as she was told. As she looked into the first opening she noticed a group of five Tele-Vipers. It struck her as odd to see female Tele-Vipers in these offices. She took a small knife from her outfit and cut a small hole. She made the hole and put the knife away; taking out several black marbles out of another hiding spot. She pushed three of them through the hole. The marbles hit the tile with a small click.

One of the Tele-Vipers looked around. "Did anyone here that?"

Jessica Morrison shrugged. "It was probably Leslie dropping her lip gloss." This got a chuckle out of the rest of the Vipers.

Leslie stood up. "No ma'am." She held up her gloss. "I had it in my pocket the entire time. I heard it too."

Jessica raised an eyebrow. "You're sure? Hm…" Jessica got up and looked around. She noticed the three marbles. "What do we have here?"

"I wouldn't pick them up if I were you." Leslie commented, applying the gloss.

Jessica bent over and picked each one up. She took one in between her fingers.

"It looks like marbles." The first Tele-Viper commented. She took another one, inspecting it. "It's got a liquid center."

Jessica took the one away from the girl. "Annie, I don't know what it is…" The explosions from the cafeteria shook the whole room.

"Ma'am?" Annie asked

Jessica nodded. "It seems that Mike couldn't do the job. Lisa, Amber, Chloe; get the rifles out of the gun cabinet. Leslie, Annie; put Madam Diamondback on full alert. She should be in Operations with the rest of the Techies and Siegies."

Jessica closed her hand; linking the three marbles together. The marbles sprayed out a black mist. Jessica tossed the fused marbles on the floor. The mist sprayed in the room and the five started coughing. Each of the Tele-Vipers swayed on the spot and hit the floor. Jessica was the last one to go down. When she did, she hit her head hard on the edge of the main desk. Jinx gritted her teeth a bit; she heard a slight crack from when Jessica went down.

Jinx tossed out the other three marbles; white in color. They hit the floor and went off automatically. They let out a slight mist that evaporated the knockout gas in the air. She smiled to herself as she removed the vent cover and lowered herself down to the tile floor. Jinx dropped down to the floor. She checked the vipers to see if they were still alive. All of them were except Jessica; she broke her neck as she fell.

Jinx tapped on her communicator. "I'm in the computer files."

"Good job gorgeous." Shockwave replied. "We'll be right in. We're waiting on Firewall."

Jinx shook her head and started to tie up the other four girls. She took some duct tape from a shelf and taped up their hands and feet. Jinx took off her mask and sat in one of the chairs. She took a Rubik's cube off of the desk in front of her and started to work on it. The door opened and the rest of the team walked in.

"Anybody home?" Alex smiled as he walked in. Jinx waved to him and motioned to the tied up foursome.

Shockwave nodded. "Impressive Jinx, really impressive." He sat down next to his girlfriend. They reached for each others' hand and gave a quick squeeze. Alex pointed to the main terminal and Firewall moved to it. Sidewinder closed the door behind her and locked it.

"Why were you waiting on Firewall?" Jinx asked.

Firewall heaved a dramatic sigh. "I had to pee."

Sidewinder smiled. "S'matter roomie? Too much Mountain Dew?" Firewall gave Sidewinder the finger as she took out her laptop. Sidewinder took out a cigarette and was about to light up when Alex's hand stopped her.

"Don't. Not in here. We can slip out the side door over there." He pointed to the other side of the room. "If you light that; we say goodbye to oxygen."

Everyone but Firewall looked at Alex with curiosity. Firewall looked up and nodded.

"Holon unit; in the case of a fire the room goes on lockdown and all of the oxygen gets sucked out of the room." She tapped a few keys on her laptop. "We have it at the Pit as well. Never been used, but still no point in chancing it."

"Don't they have oxygen masks?" Jinx asked.

Alex snorted. "Like Cobra would spring for them. Easier to get more people from somewhere else than to pay for something like that." He motioned for Sidewinder to follow him. "Please let us back in when I knock." The two of them walked outside to a small courtyard.

"How long Firewall?" Jinx looked back to her as the door closed.

"This is a little harder." Firewall stared at her screen. "Encryption codes are a little harder to crack than a standard user PC. Give me five minutes and we should be in."

Shockwave nodded. "Do it." He looked at Jinx. "You okay?"

Jinx nodded. "What was that rumbling?" Firewall snickered as she worked.

"That would be the cafeteria ceiling collapsing under the damage from two pipe bombs." Jinx stared at him for a moment. "I'm serious."

"I believe you, but where did you get them?"

"That would be our new partner." Firewall commented.

"Stay on task Firewall." Shockwave stated. "Alex's bag is filled with all kinds of crazy explosives. It's stuff he made at home, or so I'm told."

"Something else that we missed in the files?" Jinx asked.

Shockwave nodded. "Apparently so; this guy is full of surprises."

"We all read the file before we started this mission." Firewall commented. She looked up for a moment. Shockwave gave her a look. "I know, stay on task."

Shockwave shook his head and turned his attention back to Jinx, removing his mask. "There's a lot that we don't know about him."

Jinx nodded, as she continued playing with the Rubik's cube. "He's a great soldier. He's what we look for in a greenshirt. He's a reservist, but he spent time at Ground Zero. He's even seen combat. His unit saw action in Afghanistan shortly after we went to war. Served two years over there until his father passed away."

"He's just got a lot of other qualities." Firewall chimed in. She turned to them. "Don't say a word; I'm loading something in the program. He's good in martial arts, he can make improvised explosives."

"He's an artist." Jinx commented. "He's a lot of things that we could use on the team."

Shockwave nodded. "If we all make it out of here, I'm recommending him to General Hawk for the team."

"I second." Firewall smiled, turning her attention back to the computer.

Jinx heard the knock on the door. She let Sidewinder and Alex in. They grabbed two extra seats. Jinx took her seat back. Shockwave filled Jinx in on what happened from the time they separated. Shockwave skipped over the incident with the Viper and the argument between Sidewinder and Alex. They talked for a few about the rest of the mission when Firewall's laptop chirped.

"We're in!" She smiled. "Just a couple of commands and we're gold." She typed on the keys; entering several commands at the right time.

After a couple of tense minutes and Firewall cursing under the pressure; they got all of the files that they needed.

"We're done!" Firewall closed her laptop. "Plan of action, Sarge?"

Shockwave nodded. "We go out the front door and grab a beer." Everyone reloaded and got out what they needed. They unlocked the door and walked into the Computer room. They took three steps when they heard the clicks of several rifles. All of them pointed at them. There were two people standing at the front of the group. One of them was Diamondback and the other was really familiar to them.

"Danny?"

Tune in next time for the continuation of this story...


	9. Showdown

_New Chapter is up; short but it's small and should satify until this weekend. _

**Chapter Nine: **Showdown

Alex pushed forward to the front of the team. He stared at his Sergeant. This was a man that he knew and respected for over three years. Now he was staring down a dozen armed soldiers dressed in red, a couple of them in purple; Danny included. His "president" was in a white business suit, armed with an assault rifle. Danny moved closer to the group. Alex moved a bit closer. He felt a hand, which stopped him for a moment.

"Take cover on my signal." Alex told to the hand, dropping his backpack near the hand and moved towards Danny.

The two moved closer. Alex could swear that as he looked at Danny, he could see remorse in his face. Just like Bethany, he had to do it. Why; was the question that was plaguing him at this moment.

"Well this makes for an interesting predicament." Danny said solemnly.

"It does." Alex replied. He looked his friend in the eyes.

"I had to." Danny looked him back dead on. "It was my life or death."

Alex snorted. "I would have taken death." Alex moved closer. "What did we spend all that time talking about? Did you listen to me?"

Danny sighed. "That's the difference between you and me. I value my life."

Alex cracked his neck. "Let's do this. Just you and me."

Danny nodded, pulling a big knife from his back holster. "Fair enough." He took a fighter's stance while Alex took a boxer's stance.

"What are we waiting for?" Asked Jinx.

Sidewinder nodded. "This is the signal. When they move, take cover and take them out."

Danny and Alex circled each other. When Alex's back was to the Cobras, he motioned to the left with his eyes. Danny barely nodded. They both moved three steps to the left, giving the Joes a clear line of sight. On the third step, Alex turned a one eighty and threw a tennis ball. Danny took aim at it flew closer to the Cobra lines. Alex turned back to the Joes; Sidewinder tossing him the backpack. The Joes took cover as Alex caught the bag. Danny took aim and pulled the trigger of his rifle. The tennis ball exploded over the Cobras. Diamondback had taken cover in the same direction that they did. Alex watched as his I.E.D. exploded and saw a couple of the Crimson Guardsmen stiffen and drop. Most of the Techno-Vipers were shouting and screaming in pain. Danny looked around Alex and smiled.

"Frag-ball?" Danny laughed.

"Your idea." Alex smiled. "All of those little bits of metal from the shop were useful. I never forgot that you loaded a tracer round in the top of the clip." They leaned against the Computer tower. "So this was the black ops that you were on?"

"Sorry man." Danny nodded. "You know I couldn't tell you."

Alex sighed. "Then let's help our friends." He took aim around the corner and killed a Techno-Viper. Danny was aiming on the other side of the tower. He looked over and saw the Joes were taking them down quickly. Jinx was busy taking care of the remaining Tele-Vipers that were closing in behind them. Shockwave and Sidewinder were excellent shots; killing a few more Guardsmen. Firewall was at a terminal station doing something with the network, trying to make it crash.

Danny turned to Alex. "How many bombs do you have left?"

Alex moved to the other side of Danny and sat down. He took aim at a Guardsman that moved into the towers area. He pulled the trigger, shooting the Siegie in the testicles. He opened the bag and looked as the man fell down screaming.

"One pipe with a really short wick, a couple of fireballs and good one for in here."

Danny got up and motioned to Shockwave. Shockwave nodded and gave them cover. Danny motioned for Alex to follow him. They ran past the towers towards the entrance. Danny stopped him.

"Place your big one in here. That pipe is going in Diamondback's office. Her computer bites it and your files are safe. Do it now soldier!"

Alex moved to the tower he passed and placed the demo charge in the tower. He went to Danny's side again and moved towards the office. Danny took out the remaining two Techno-Vipers and followed after him. Alex bolted from his position and ran behind the four Siegies. Danny was right behind him and was caught halfway by Fred Broca. Alex aimed at the Siegies and took one out. He watched as Danny jammed his knife upward into Broca's skull; Broca using the last of his strength to pull the triggers of the sawed-off shotgun. The slugs sent Danny flying through the air and forcing him through the glass entryway. Alex hesitated for a moment, but had to finish the mission. He shut the door behind him and moved to the oak desk. He dumped two whole bottles of lighter fluid on the desk. He found the hard drive of the computer and put another timer bomb next to it. He lit the fuse and pulled out the last two tennis balls.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he felt the pressure of the pistol to the back of his head. He heard the evil laugh from Diamondback and felt that would be one of the last things he would ever hear.

"Aw shit."

_Sorry that this was short, but I'll have more in the near the end of the story_


	10. Negotiation

All apologies you guys! I was trying to get this up over the weekend and with the issues that they were having, well... I guess better late than never. So onwards to the next chapter!

**Chapter Ten: **Negotiation

"Aw shit."

Alex put his hands up to the side and made a motion to surrender. He felt the pressure of the pistol to the back of his head. He tensed up and heard the click of the bullet chambering. A lot of things were going through his head. He knew that he'd never make it to the Rangers or have the family that he wanted. He sighed and relaxed as he closed his eyes. He saw his parents and sister in an open field; smiling to him. He thought to them: _I'm going to the Summerlands. I'll see you guys soon._

Alex waited for the gunshot. He counted the time passing: ten seconds, fifteen, thirty seconds. It was at the minute mark that opened an eye and waited. He heard the hammer of the pistol getting pushed back into a resting position. It was when he heard the click that both of his eyes opened. He slowly turned to face the boss with his arms down at his side. She put the pistol back into her holster and took two steps back.

"I think we should negotiate."

Alex looked at her. "What, now?"

Diamondback shrugged. "No better time than the present."

Alex chuckled. "Sure why not? We've both got about five minutes to live." Alex scratched his ear. "What are you offering?"

"Have a seat." Alex moved to the other side of desk, but Diamondback cleared her throat. "No take my chair."

Alex snorted. "You play some real hardball, don't you?" He took her seat while she took the other seat.

"It's a gift." She smiled sweetly at him. "We're at a stalemate; you and I. Either way, we're both good as dead."

Alex nodded. "You got anything to drink?"

Diamondback smiled. "Top right drawer; there should be an expensive bottle of scotch." Alex opened the drawer. She motioned to the two tall glasses in there as well. Alex filled both glasses to the top. She took one and he the other.

"To our health." Alex smiled. They took a drink. "Not bad."

Diamondback smiled again. "Down to business Alex. Your friends have the files; that's what they wanted. They're free to go, on the condition of getting any survivors out alive."

Alex breathed. "You guys here that?"

Shockwave came through the earpiece. "Yeah I did. There's only the five Tele-Vipers."

"They say that only the Tele-Vipers are still alive."

Diamondback sighed. "Fair enough, I suppose. Tell them to take them and leave. What they do with them after they get them out is none of my concern."

"Loud and clear Alex, we'll come…" But that was all that he heard. He took the earpiece out and threw it across the room. Diamondback looked at him but said nothing as she took another drink. She drew her pistol out and put it on the table.

"How much longer do we have?"

Alex looked at his watch. "About two minutes for the explosive out there." He gestured to the door. "In here, I've no clue."

Diamondback look at him questioningly. "You didn't time your wick?"

Alex took out his cigarettes, offering one to Diamondback. She took one and they both lit up. "I cut the wicks in the cafeteria. Most of them were about three minutes." He shrugged a bit. "Barely trimmed this one." He glanced down briefly, knowing that this one was button activated. "We've got a minute or less."

"Bethany was good for you."

"I know that Tracy." Alex shrugged. "I wouldn't have cared if she was Cobra and I wasn't. I loved her."

"I know she loved you Alex. She told me that once." He put his hand up, Diamondback decided to change the subject. "Sorry. You know that you would have been an officer in the Cobra ranks. You're talented and skilled. We would have made a good team."

"So that's why you were trying to recruit me?"

"You're handsome; it could have been fun." Diamondback smiled.

"You're prettier in person, I'll say that." Diamondback blushed. "Still, I couldn't do it. Knowing that Cobra was tied up with 9/11; yeah that would have eaten away at me."

"That was Serpentor's doing, not ours."

Alex snorted. "He was a loon."

"Well, he's gone now. That's all that matters." Diamondback sighed. "Let's face it; we're similar. We believe in our causes and know that we'll make them go to the end."

"Agreed."

The explosion from Operations shook the building. They sat there and were lost in thought for a few moments.

"Still time on that other one?"

Alex looked down. "Maybe thirty seconds; give or take a few." Alex sighed. "This isn't the way I planned going out."

"Me neither." Diamondback sighed. "You want to do this the right way?" Alex nodded as he topped off his glass. He took the bottle and finished the triple shot that was left. Diamondback drained her glass.

"Winner gets this glass." Alex shrugged. "On three?" Diamondback nodded.

"1…2…3…!"

Diamondback went for her pistol. Alex took the glass of scotch and threw it on Diamondback. She stood shocked for a moment. She lifted the pistol off of the table and fired. Two shots dug into Alex's right shoulder while the third went wide. Alex spun on the spot, pulling out two tennis balls. With his good arm, he threw both of them at the desktop. The desk ignited in a fireball, catching Diamondback on fire as well. Alex took out his Desert Eagle and pulled the trigger three times; emptying the clip. Diamondback spun on the spot and hit the ground. The flames on her were dying out, but she wasn't moving. Alex moved to the door, hitting the trigger mechanism in his pocket. The desk exploded from the bomb underneath it; sending shrapnel that was once a beautiful oak desk all over.

Alex opened the door and saw the flames. He backed up and took a couple of deep breaths and moved to the front door. He got out of Operations and made it to the front desk. The smoke was billowing into the room. He looked around and saw the lifeless body of Dan. Alex sighed and picked him up; throwing the body over his good shoulder. He took off out the front door and ran to the back dock.

In the parking lot were the Joes with their prisoners. They were tied up with handcuffs and chained together. He noticed the body of Bethany next to them. Firewall saw him coming and waved him down. Alex moved to the van that the Joes brought with them. The Joes were stripping out of their clothes and were putting their uniforms on. Alex put Dan next to Bethany and waited for them to finish.

Shockwave moved closer to Alex. "C'mon Matthews, we've gotta get out of here!"

Alex shook his head. "No, I'm not going."

The other three stopped and looked at him.

"Are you insane?" Sidewinder nearly screamed.

"Why are you sticking around?" Firewall shook. "You're going to get caught!"

Alex looked to the two dead people. Jinx and Shockwave nodded; they understood.

"You should join the team." Jinx said. "We could use you."

Alex shook his head. "Not this way. I want to go through the proper channels. I want that Ranger tab. If I keep my nose clean, maybe I'll be noticed." Firewall was about to protest, but Alex held his hand up. "I didn't earn this the right way. Tell your C.O. that I want to do this the right way. If in a few years he or she is impressed with my qualifications, then and only then I would consider the offer."

He handed the Desert Eagles and an envelope to Firewall. "Send these back to me. I'll get that armor done for you." She hugged him tightly. "You're welcome kiddo. Take care of yourself for me, okay?" Firewall nodded.

He moved to Jinx. "You're awesome. Take care of Shockwave for me." Jinx gave him a quick hug and started to get the prisoners into the van. Firewall was helping her.

Shockwave came up. "I'm sorry man, I really am." He offered his hand to Alex. Alex shook it.

"Take care of these guys, especially that girl of yours." Shockwave smiled and went to help the others.

Sidewinder turned to him. "I'm not going to see you again, am I?"

Alex shrugged. "Hard to say. You never know." He reached into his pocket. "Here, take this. It brought me good luck in the past."

Sidewinder looked at him skeptically. "You're kidding right?"

"I made it out, didn't I?" Alex put the Zippo into her hands and very lightly kissed her forehead. "You guys better get out of here."

He turned and lifted Dan into the bed of his truck. He got Bethany up and in the bed as well. He watched the Joes pile into the van and get started up. Alex started to cover the bodies with blankets and his bag. As he was getting into his truck, the van sped past him. Jinx hit the horn as they passed. Alex waved to them as he got into the truck. He started the truck and backed out of his parking spot and looked at the building. He worked there for over three years. Three years of memories; both good and bad, seemed to flood all of his senses. He closed his eyes and sighed. He put the truck in drive and lit up the second to last cigarette in his pack. He drove off into the night as he heard the sirens pulling into the destruction that was his former life.

Wow! So what do you think? Well stick around, I've got a few more things that need to be tied up before I'm done with this story. Stay Tuned!


	11. Loose Ends

_I'm so sorry you guys. I've been so busy with things at work, at home and putting myself into a huge training regiment. I'm posting the next couple of chapters here in the next couple of weeks. I'm trying to buy myself some time to continue work on the next part of this story. Needless to say that I'm failing miserably. _

_The next couple of chapters take place after everything that happened in the main part of the story. We'll follow some of the characters and what they are up to now. _

_Get ready for a surprise in this one... Onwards to the story._

**Chapter Eleven: **Loose ends

Alex walked up to Northside, like he had for the last week or so. He didn't have a job to go to anymore, but spent most of his time in the barn working. He was glad that he was getting more and more work in from his little shop. People were beginning early for the spring and summer months early. When he worked was when he did the most of his thinking. He thought about Dan and everything that happened that night. Dan was buried two days after Christmas and he was given a full military service. He was glad that the military was able to give him the service that he knew he couldn't.

He walked in the door saw Manny at the door. Manny flashed that huge smile of his. He welcomed Alex into a brotherly hug.

"Didn't think you'd make it for New Years!"

Alex snorted, giving a slight smile. He shook Manny's hand, letting loose of the money in his hand. Manny looked down at the money in his hand.

"Dude, you don't have to pay a cover. You're a regular. Besides this is like ten times what the cover would be anyway."

Alex smiled. "Dude, it's for the New Year. I'm getting a little more money in the shop now. It's my way of saying thanks for being there for me." Manny pulled him into another hug. "Besides, you're gonna need that for your little girl."

Manny rubbed his eye. "Damn smoke in here." Alex rolled his eyes. "Thanks man. Drinks are on the house for you tonight."

"What? No man…" Manny put his hand up.

"Joey doing it for ALL of the regulars." Manny kept smiling as he looked around. "Besides, I see someone looking for you anyway."

Alex looked in the direction Manny was and smiled. He said his goodbyes to Manny and headed in the direction of the bar. He ordered two beers and headed over to the secluded area that his date was waiting for him. He said his hellos and New Year wishes to the people that he knew, trying to get to her. He made his way to her and sat down. He felt completely underdressed in jeans, boots, flannel and army coat. She was looking gorgeous in a button up blouse, black skirt with matching stockings and pumps. Her hair was done in that wild look that he loved so much.

"Hey Bethy."

Bethany smiled at him. "You're late…again." She went over to him and kissed him. They broke off from the kiss and he handed her a beer.

"Sorry, I lost track of time again." Alex lit up. "Still a little sore?"

Bethany nodded. "Yeah. But I'm doing a lot better than a week ago." She opened the blouse a little. "See? The bruising is going away." This led to a couple of wolf whistles from some of the regulars. Bethany rolled her eyes and smiled as she buttoned up the blouse again.

"You've really got to stop that." Alex smiled. He looked at her and the smile slid a little from his face. "I'm really sorry baby."

Bethany took his hand and kissed it. "We've been over this Alexander. I broke your heart, dumped you for the one guy that you couldn't stand at work and tried to kill you. I was doing what I thought I was supposed to do. As far as I'm concerned, we're square."

Alex smiled again. "Good thing I left that bullet-proof vest at your place."

Bethany returned the smile. "Good thing I wore it when I was told we were going on high alert at the company. I knew that you were going to lead that whole team."

Alex shook his head. "Speaking of which, what did you say to the cops?"

"Simple; I told the truth. I said that I was working when I saw the Vipers coming in. I got shot and that was all I remember." Bethany's smile was radiant to him. "What did you say when they asked you?"

"Like you said, I told the truth." Alex took a swig from his beer. "Couple of them barged in, I fought one by breaking his neck and was shot and knocked out."

They both laughed at the moment. When Alex took Dan and her to his home, he didn't know what to do. Bethany came to as he was stripping her into some of her old clothes. He saw the vest and laughed and she did too. They spent the holiday working to get Dan's arrangements taken care of. When Dan was buried, they went to Dan's lawyer. Dan left everything to both of them. Both of them took the money and put it in CDs and accounts that would make money for them. They did spend a little to fix up Dan's place and rented it out to a newlywed couple. They fixed up their home and spent a lot of time catching up. They were happy again.

"Penny for your thought?" Bethany said taking one of his cigarettes.

"Only a penny?" Alex lit her cigarette and then his. "Why did you join Cobra?"

Bethany sighed and shrugged. "I'm not sure. I figured that it would be easier for me there in the long run. I wasn't in for a long time, but they made me a manager and leader of a platoon. The money was right, but it really didn't feel right. I thought about what I was doing and I knew it wasn't right. I thought with my wallet and not with my heart and brain."

"Would you do it all over again?" Alex asked.

Bethany shook her head. "Gods no; never in a million years. I almost lost everything that was dear to me and I won't do that again. I could never replace the only man that I ever loved."

Alex chuckled. It was nice to hear that. His life was almost whole again.

"Oh! That package came in today!"

Bethany smiled. "You got the twins back?"

"Yeah and an address to send that armor to." Alex laughed. "You would of liked them; the four of them. They were close knit; good friends and better teammates."

"I would have, I don't doubt that." Bethany took a drink. She was lost for a moment then asked the question that was plaguing her. "If they offer you a spot on the Joe team, would you take it?"

Alex chewed on his tongue. "I don't know. I mean that I'd love to get that Ranger's tab, but I don't know now. It would be worth it." He put out his cigarette. "They'd have to take me and you as a total package."

"Alexander, I would be surprised if they took me." Bethany stated.

"Bethy, let's not worry about it. We're here now and really, that's all that matters to me at this moment."

They smiled as the final countdown to New Year's came. They both knew that the New Year was a start for the both of them. As the bells chimed in Chicago at midnight, they kissed knowing that the two of them would take on whatever the world would throw at them.

_Weren't expecting that, were you? I was torn when I originally wrote this and couldn't decide if Bethany would live or not. For the time being, she survived. I may decide otherwise in the future, but hey let me know what you think. Thank you to my patient readers; I can't wait for the next couple of chapters. You'll see somethings that are connected but are out there. Thanks again!_


	12. Interrogation

_I'm posting twice in a week. Readership is my highest ever! Thank you all very much!_

_I apologize for this chapter. If you are startled or bothered by prisoner treatment, you may want to skip this chapter._

_No? Well, you've been warned..._

**Chapter Twelve: **Interrogation

Sidewinder balled her fist and swung. The fist connected with the side of the Viper's jaw. The Viper's head swung to the side and lay slightly limp. The sob that came out of the Viper only made Sidewinder angrier. The other four were easy when they were sat at the table; they gave up the information that they were asked. Sadly, they gave very little of this precious commodity. This last one; Leslie Dobbs, was the challenge. She sat across from her and laughed in her face. Maybe she was tired but Sidewinder had enough. She was tired of Cobra messing up peoples' lives; normal people that suffered because of a madman and his cabal of criminals. It wasn't right in her mind. She saw this as a personal quest. Sidewinder cracked her knuckles in a threatening manner.

"You plan on talking bitch, or am I giving you another knuckle sandwich?"

Leslie Dobbs was crying; whether of the pain or another reason was her own. She sniffed and snorted as she hung her head. She looked up at Sidewinder and smiled. She snorted and hocked up some blood. She spit in Sidewinder's face.

"Go fuck yourself."

Sidewinder wiped the blood from her face and saw red. She pulled her Beretta out of holster and sat on Leslie's lap, placing the pistol between Leslie's eyes and cocked the hammer back. There was scuffle of chairs, but she didn't care. No one spit in Sidewinder's face, ever.

Let alone this type of scum.

"You're done!" Sidewinder growled, getting ready to pull the trigger.

Sidewinder pulled the trigger, but the meaty hand that grabbed her arm moved it in time. The bullet imbedded itself in the wall. Sidewinder was disarmed and pinned to the ground by a mountain of a man. The footsteps behind them went to Leslie. Sidewinder struggled against who had pinned her down, but he wasn't letting up.

"Well Sidewinder, you actually scared someone to death." She could feel the rage building. "Mercer; pick her up, remove any weapons on her and 'cuff her."

Mercer didn't respond, but did as he was told. When he was done stripping the pistol and Ka-Bar knife off of her, Mercer pulled her arms behind her back and put the handcuffs on her a bit tightly. Mercer forced her into a chair facing the table in the interrogation room. He let go of her and walked over to where Duke was standing.

"What would you like me to do Colonel?" Mercer asked, a slight English accent coming from his lips.

Duke didn't say anything. He was trying to clear his thoughts for a moment. Duke took a heavy sigh. Sidewinder could see the rage in his face. She knew that she was in trouble. Duke nodded and looked at her. Mercer took this as a sign and moved behind her.

Duke looked Sidewinder dead in the eyes. "Mercer, you will take Captain Riley down to the prison block. Mutt, Junkyard, Law and Order will be down there. I'll page for Vorona and have her meet you both down there. Vorona will search her for anything that is on the Captain's person. When Vorona's done, move Captain Riley down to one of the cells further down from our guests. Give Riley a bottle of water and lock her in." Sidewinder's eyes grew in size. Duke showed a slight smirk. "You're lucky I'm doing this Captain. If you were on some other team; I would have court-marshaled your ass faster than you can blink." Duke turned most of his attention to Mercer. "You'll process her and all of her items and then the six of you will wait for me to come down and cover the situation with you. Mercer, please wait in the hall." Mercer saluted and walked out the door.

Sidewinder felt a single tear roll down her cheek. Duke didn't give her any sympathy. "Showing remorse a bit late there, Captain." Duke took another chair and turned the back to Sidewinder. He sat down, staring at her.

"What in the blazes is going on with you? Two years ago, I didn't have ANY problems with you. Granted, you did a few things that Beach Head put you into extra PT for close to a month." Duke shook his head. "In the last six months, your career here has been less than acceptable. It was common knowledge that the two of you were dating for a time. It was also common knowledge that the two of you amicably split up. Whatever personal issues you have with Ace, you told me that you could work with him. After leaving my office, you go back to the hangers and start a fistfight with Ace." Sidewinder smiled slightly, which Duke noticed.

"I'm glad you find this funny!" Duke was enraged. "You did your punishment and then nearly start a riot in the motor pool! All because our resident chauvanists decide to hit on you. I know that Shipwreck and Clutch deserve to get hit with a wrench, but to actually DO it are two different things! Then to go ahead and take a swing at Steeler, whose trying to break up the fight and breaking Cover Girl's arm in the same motion is unacceptable! You were damn lucky that you weren't court-marshaled then!" Duke slammed his hand on the table. "If you pull one more God Damn stunt, I'll make sure that you're not only court-marshaled, but I'll make sure that you get a Section Eight, you lose ALL military benefits and will NEVER fly anything again; up to and including a paper airplane!"

Duke stood up and turned his back to Sidewinder. He took a couple of deep breaths to calm himself. "I'm going to talk to Generals Abernathy and Colton about this. I'm going to suggest that any punishment given is supplemented with regular sessions with Psyche-Out. You're on strike two. If you screw this one up; you'll wish that you never crossed me AT ALL!" He pointed to the door. "Get out of my sight!"

Sidewinder stood up and walked to the door. She opened the door and gently closed it. Duke turned to the door and shook his head.

_*She's a good soldier, but she's going through a hard time.*_

"I know that Snakes, but damn it; she's lashing out at the people that actually want to help her." Duke shook his head. "I'm glad you were here to make sure things didn't get out of hand." Snake Eyes moved out of the shadows and moved closer to Duke.

_*She's like Scarlett; she won't ask for help.* _Snake Eyes chuckled a bit. *_You have to admit that hearing Clutch getting a wrench to the back of the head WAS funny.*_

"You're not helping Snakes." Duke smiled a bit. "He was lucky he was wearing his helmet." Duke looked at the silent ninja. "I'll try to remember that when I talk to the Generals here in a few. You're free to go do what you need Snakes." He placed a hand on Snake Eyes' shoulder. "Thank you for your help."

Snake Eyes nodded, saluted and moved to the door; exiting quietly. Duke took his communicator out and called Lifeline to come and remove the body.

_Crazy right? I fear that Sidewinder's plight is going to get worse before it gets any better. We'll see what happens in the next story. I have a few more chapters to go and this epic will be finished. Thanks again for reading. I would like to see what my fellow readers are thinking on this chapter.._


	13. Sit Rep

_I regret that this story is coming closer to an end. I'm no where close to where I want to be with the next part of this story. I was hoping to be finished with it by now; I'm not even out of the first couple of chapters. I'll have to take a little bit of time with the next one, so I'll be posting less for the time being_

_And now for the next installment..._

**Chapter Thirteen: **Sit-Rep

Shockwave moved through the hallways to the General's office. He had only been down this way a few times. He was like most of the Joes; he kept his nose clean and did his best to stay out of trouble. Granted; the few times that he had conversations with General Hawk were mostly pleasant. He had been in the General's office twice; the first time was when Shockwave found out that Jinx was to be his partner on missions. The second time was a year after the two of them were dating. The conversation was awkward; discussing how fraternization was avoidable if they kept a low profile. Shockwave was lucky that neither Jinx nor he had ever gotten caught on base. Most of the time they spent intimate moments at a cottage that was less than an hour away. If they couldn't get away, they spent time in his barrack; he didn't have a bunk-mate. He stopped in front of the General's office and knocked on the door.

"Enter" Spoke the voice on the other side of the door. Shockwave opened the door and walked in; closing the door behind him. He removed his hat and balaclava. He then saluted the Generals in the room.

"As you were Shockwave." General Hawk was sitting at his desk; several files piled on his desk with one in particular open in front of him. General Colton was standing near the window, watching the greenshirts running in formation with Beach Head yelling at them.

"Flint said that you wanted to see me sirs?" Shockwave asked.

General Hawk nodded. "We want to talk about Specialist Matthews. Please, have a seat." Shockwave sat down in the chair across from General Hawk. "We won't go over the mission; we've done that to death over the last week or so. Sergeant, we're curious to the file." General Hawk closed the file and handed it to Shockwave. Shockwave looked it over as General Hawk continued.

"As you know, Staff Sergeant Daniel Thompson recommended both himself and Specialist Matthews before the Sergeant's death." Shockwave nodded to this. "As the team leader on the mission, we want to get your input on this."

"In other words son, we're putting this decision in your hands." General Colton turned from the window to comment. He turned back to the window and continued to look outside.

Shockwave sighed. "Wow, no pressure sirs."

General Hawk smiled. "You're getting the vote since Sergeant Thompson isn't here to speak for Matthews. Your input to what went on in Port Haven will either move Matthews to either greenshirt status or a member of G.I. Joe."

Shockwave continued through the file as he spoke. "Honestly, we wanted to get him out of that situation when the mission was over. He was determined to take care of the two casualties that were his friend and significant other."

"Never leave a comrade behind; sounds good so far Clayton."

General Hawk nodded to this. Shockwave continued. "The file is very accurate; he served a tour in the Middle East. Excellent marksman, followed orders to the letter and overall a good soldier." Shockwave took a drink from his canteen. "It's the things NOT in the file that I have to go over."

General Hawk looked at Shockwave with a hint of surprise. "Things that aren't in the file? Do you care to elaborate?"

Shockwave nodded again. "Specialist Matthews made a couple of I.E.D.'s that worked. They actually worked without killing any of us. I haven't seen anything like it since a bust I was on years ago." General Hawk nodded; _please continue. _"General, it was something that was out of the Anarchist's Cookbook. Home-made explosives that were made were actually improved on. They worked better."

"That's something you don't see everyday Clayton."

General Hawk nodded. "Please continue."

"We were mistaken as Cobra agents and he took the four of us on." Shockwave rubbed his arm. "He kept his own with three of us. General, he took Jinx down."

"Come again?" General Colton turned his attention to them. "He took down a blasted ninja? How did he do it?"

Shockwave shook his head. "I'm not sure, sir. When I was close to him, it felt like electricity. He moved with a grace and air that I've never seen; yes I'm considering our ninjas as well." Shockwave scratched his chin. "I truly believe that he could take Snakes."

The two generals looked at each other with surprise written on their faces. They looked back at Shockwave. Shockwave gulped and continued.

"Besides that; the man's a legitimate blacksmith. He makes a lot of medieval armor and weapons, but I'm telling you that he's better than some of the things I've seen at the Renfaires upstate when I went a few years ago. He's a true Renaissance man."

"What's the catch, son?" General Colton asked.

Shockwave was dreading this. "His significant other; she's a Cobra agent."

"How do you know this?" General Hawk asked.

"I went back in to get her body." Shockwave stated. "He loved her and I went back in to get the body. I swear that when I put her down on the ground, I heard a groan. I checked for a pulse, just in case. She was alive. I checked where he shot her at; she was wearing a bullet-proof vest underneath the Viper uniform."

The Generals looked at each other. General Hawk was the first to speak.

"This could be nothing. She could have seen the light like Mercer."

Shockwave shrugged. "I figured that I'd let you know about this."

"Then Shockwave," General Colton looked at him. "Do you recommend him for the team or not?"

Shockwave thought for a moment. He finally nodded. The Generals looked at each other and smiled. "Thank you Sergeant. We'll need you to come with us when we get him here soon."

Shockwave cleared his throat. "I did have a message from him. He said that he would like to get his Ranger's tab first before coming aboard."

"Shockwave, I'm sure that we can work something out with the two of them." General Hawk nodded. "You're dismissed."

Shockwave stood and saluted. He left the room and shut the door behind him.

"Clay, do you honestly think that the girlfriend could do this?"

General Hawk rubbed his chin. "She's marked. If Cobra finds out that she's alive and well; they'll kill her. She's got some qualities that we need. If she can make the cut, we'll get her on the team."

General Colton nodded. "I sure hope you know what you're doing."

General Hawk smiled to him. "I was sure when we brought Mercer on the team. He's a good soldier. She could be the same." General Colton nodded. "Besides Joseph, enough of the team trust Mercer. I don't expect everyone to like him or get to know him, but enough of the team has worked with him. They trust him, therefore I trust him."

"You always did see the best in people." General Colton nodded.

General Hawk smiled. "Always will Joseph, I always will."

General Hawk turned back to the files on his desk. General Colton nodded and resumed his spot back at the window.

_I know that this was a filler chapter, but we had to see what the head honcho though. I've got one more and we'll start the next story. Thanks again for your readership..._


	14. Something In The Way He Moves

_So I decided to stretch this out a bit more. I'll have one more chapter after this one as an epilogue. Hopefully, I can get a little further in the next story by next week. Anyway onwards!_

**Chapter Fourteen: **Something in the way he moves

Jinx was moving silently on the grounds. She scaled the chain-link fence and leapt over the razor wire that topped the fence. She landed on all fours; albeit a bit awkwardly. Her right leg was bruised from the fight over a week ago. She was surprised by the speed of the blacksmith; no one had ever got that close to her and not go unnoticed. She sneaked out to the forest that surrounded Fort Wadsworth. She had to find the other ninjas and ask questions that she couldn't answer herself.

She crept along the trees and bushes; barely making a sound. With her leg hurting her as bad as it was, she barely made a noise. When she reached the nearby ocean, the trees thinned out. Her cover was sparse, but she was able to hide. She moved along the coastline, following her senses. She could feel her masters as she got closer, but there was someone else there too. She saw the fire in an open area of clearing.

"You should pay attention more to your surroundings, apprentice."

Jinx felt the wakizashi blade close to her throat. Jinx inhaled and held her breath. When the blade moved away from her did she breath again. She turned to see a ninja clad in white. He placed the wakizashi back into its holder. They faced each other and bowed. The white ninja smiled underneath his mask and placed an arm around Jinx.

"Forgive me Phoenix Master." She inclined her head to another bow. "I was lost in thought. I will not let it happen again."

"Cousin, it's fine." Storm Shadow put her in a headlock and ruffled her hair. "I know that you think of Supercop all the time. You're allowed to drop your guard once in a while."

Jinx broke out of the headlock and smiled. "Jason is always with me." She pulled out the necklace that he gave her over two years ago and put it back after Storm Shadow took a look at it. "I'm troubled with what happened on the mission. Something happened that has never happened to me before."

Storm Shadow motioned to the fire. "Come; Spirit came out to join us tonight."

Jinx nodded. "Great; I need to ask him some questions too."

Jinx followed Storm Shadow to the fire where Spirit, Snake Eyes and Kamakura were in full Lotus position. Storm Shadow sat on the ground and Jinx found a spot on a log. They sat and waited for a few minutes. They heard movement from the bushes and turned on the ready. Scarlett came from behind the bush. She smiled and sat down next to Jinx. Their attention turned back to the three sitting around the fire. They were quiet for about five minutes when Snake Eyes' head jerked up. Spirit and Kamakura were next and they turned to the others. Jinx, Scarlett and Storm Shadow stood up and all three bowed. The other three returned bows.

"Good to see you back my friend." Spirit smiled to Jinx. "I take things went well and we have a new addition?"

Jinx shook her head. "No we don't . That's part of the reason that I'm here."

The ninjas removed their masks. They all looked at Jinx.

_I'm confused. _Snake Eyes signed. _I know he's not dead. What troubles you apprentice?_

"Silent Master; I believe it would be better to show you." Jinx replied.

"I should go then." Spirit smiled, pushing his black hair out his eyes.

"Spirit, stay." Jinx stopped him. "I think you should see this as well. There are some symbols that I don't recognize. Maybe you could help as well." She turned to Scarlett as she turned to leave. "I will need you as well. I can't identify something."

The group turned back and each one chose a log to sit on. Jinx moved closer to the fire and sat down. She took Lotus position and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the fire. The others watched the fire. As they watched, the fire climbed to ten feet on its own. Images from Jinx's thoughts flowed from the fire; similar to a paintbrush on canvas. While the images were sporadic, they did show what Jinx saw of the man known as Alexander Matthews. Jinx let out a deep breath and slowly the fires died down. The others let the images fill their mind. Jinx opened her eyes and sighed. She stood up and it was Storm Shadow that spoke first.

"Interesting fellow the General is interested."

Kamakura nodded. "He moves like we do. Are you sure he's not ninja?"

Scarlett smiled and nodded. "Positive Kamakura; I've checked the parentage." She took a small grouping of papers out and passed them out. The collective group looked them over.

"His Great Uncle is Yuen Woo-Ping?" Storm Shadow exclaimed.

"Who?" Kamakura asked.

"C'mon kid, you've seen the Matrix. The guy that directed all of the fight scenes is super-famous in Hong Kong! He's related to him."

_Chinese mother; one Rebecca Yuen. She was a Tai Chi master if I remember correctly. _

"You're right Snakes." Scarlett smiled. "One of the top masters in the United States for over ten years before she passed away from cancer."

_Okay that explains the movements. He knew how to attack without any lethal damage. _Snake Eyes pondered this thought. _Something else bothers me; I sensed something with the moves. It was almost elemental._

Spirit smiled. "I've seen this."

"Seen this? As in a vision?" Kamakura asked.

Scarlett looked over the sheet that she passed out. "I don't notice any Native blood in the parentage. His paternal grandfather came from Germany just before World War II. I didn't recognize anything that would stand out."

Spirit chuckled. "You wouldn't; at least from our country. Did anyone notice the tattoos on his arms and back?" Everyone except Snake Eyes and Jinx shook their heads no. "He's from a long line of either witches or druids." He turned to Jinx. "Did you not notice any symbols that stood out on what you could see?"

Jinx's eyes widened at the realization of this. "Of course!" She hit her hand into her open palm. She grabbed a twig and drew a pentacle on the dirt. "I noticed this symbol on both his wrists." Everyone moved and looked at it.

_A magick user?_ Snake Eyes scratched his chin. _Outside of most of us; no offense Shana, follow a non-Judaic faith. This could be interesting._

"Wait! What does that mean?" Scarlett had raised her voice a little in anger. "I'm out here with you guys when you do your little ninja rituals."

Storm Shadow smiled. "Those rituals are based on Shinto faiths. The four of us do many things that follow that faith, but we use the festivals and rituals based on our clan." He motioned to Spirit. "Charlie is allowed to join us a lot of the time because his Native beliefs follow our beliefs. We share similar deities; our have different names as do his."

"Then why not tell me this?" Scarlett seemed more hurt than angry now.

_You did ask; many years ago when I asked you if you wanted to check it out. You said yes and have been coming ever since. _

Scarlett looked at them in shock. "I had no idea."

Snake Eyes merely shrugged, along with Jinx and Storm Shadow. Spirit walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Now that you know, are you not coming again?" He smiled at her.

Scarlett shook her head. "Of course not, but I guess that I'm surprised."

"Now do you understand why we've been looking forward to Alexander's presence? It will bring us a bit closer." Spirit nodded. "I'm curious to the girl as well."

"I say that we go get them." Storm Shadow smiled. Snake Eyes stopped him.

_General Hawk stopped me before I got down here. I'm going with the extraction team when we go for them._

"Well then, until that moment; let's just enjoy the fire." Storm Shadow smiled and sat down. Everyone else joined them and waited for the next new day.

Jinx was the last to fall into a meditative state. As Jinx fell into a trance, she realized that she only got a few of her questions answered. She would find time to ask him the next time that she saw him on base. Part of her asking was pure curiosity. A lot of the questions were to heal her pride.

No one except another ninja could beat a ninja. She was sure of this.

_Interesting. Forgive the mysticism of the ninjas and Matthews. I'll do my best to expand on this more in the next story. Don't be afraid to ask me any questions. Thanks again my faithful readers!_


	15. Epilogue: Revenge

_Well, this is it! The final Chapter to A Killing Business!_

**Epilogue: **Revenge

The white light was coming in slightly. It was a dark tunnel with a light from the end of the it. It seemed the surface was right there. There was sound above the darkness. It was faint and sounded like a bad transmission. The light came in more and the sound was becoming distinct; each sound was specific to each person.

Diamondback started to get her bearings. She noticed that she was lying in a hospital bed. She felt the pain from where the three bullets struck her body. The left side of her face felt like it was on fire; the same pains in her left side, arm and shoulder. She did her best to block out the pain, but at the time it was unbearable. She let out a groan and the voices subsided.

"I see that our Guardswoman is awake," Spoke the voice.

"And seems to be in considerable pain." Spoke the second voice.

There was a chuckle. "We'll take care of that once she answers some questions."

Diamondback looked around as the room came into better focus. She noticed the three voices in the room. She noticed the Crimson Twins were standing to her right side. They were wearing matching Armani suits; tailored to perfection. She was surprised to see them there.

"Is there anything that we can get you," Tomax asked.

"My dear Diamondback?" Xamot finished.

Diamondback opened her eyes to the fullest. "Water please sirs. Very dry." Xamot handed her a glass of water. She took a couple of sips. It helped to get rid of that sandpaper taste out of her mouth. She put the half-full glass of water down on the serving table. The Twins looked at her smiled.

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Diamondback was able to get out. The Twins looked at each other and started to laugh at the comment.

"My dear, you have nothing to worry about."

"We wouldn't dream of hurting you."

Diamondback felt a tear coming to her eyes. "I failed you. I should have died with my men. They were counting on me."

"You have fought valiantly for me. I will not forget your service to me."

Diamondback's eyes grew wide as she took a sharp intake of breath. She turned to her left side and noticed Cobra Commander sitting in the chair in the corner. He was in regular street clothes and wasn't wearing a mask. She felt panic starting to set in; no one saw the Commander without his mask. Seeing the Commander maskless was instant death. She stopped herself short of screaming out load.

"Commander! I failed you! I should be dead!" Diamondback nearly shouted. Cobra Commander merely chuckled.

"You did what I asked for you to do." The Commander responded. "Besides, I know of four women that want revenge over this whole situation. We were able to get them out of federal jail and get them back to Cobra Island. "

"My soldiers will not be punished?" Diamondback asked.

Cobra Commander laughed as he moved to her side. "My dear Diamondback; I never forget my soldiers that are loyal to me and my cause. The five of you are free. Once your wounds have healed, I will make it a personal mission for the five of you to get your revenge."

Diamondback was given something that many of her subordinates; a second chance. There were many things that she wanted to do; sing, dance, throw a party. She instead did the one thing that she meant to; she looked the Commander in the eyes as she spoke.

"Commander, I will not fail you again." Diamondback couldn't help but smile.

_So that is the conclusion. As you can see, they all survived. _

_I have the first chapter completed for the next story. I will do what I can to start posting the next installment of this particular series. I want to thank all of you that have been patient with my postings. I also want to thank those of you that commented and helped me fix the little things that were awkward or confusing. _

_Stay tuned True Believers! More to Come!_


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